Would the original 13th amendment have resulted in equality, anarchy, both or neither of them?
A brief message from OWIW
A few of you have asked how you can access the threewatches and onewhoiswatching blogs. I apologize for the inconvenience. I hope to have them available to the public again at some time in the future.
I thought that many of you who are not familiar with Rock Waterman and his Pure Mormonism Blog might enjoy getting to know him and enjoy his very informative and entertaining writing style.
His latest post is called-
How Corporatism Has Undermined and Subverted The Church of Jesus Christ
It is somewhat of a barn burner.
You can Click here to read it.
New Hampshire Fires First Shot Of Civil War by passing Resolution
The following email was forwarded to me… I thought it might be of interest to some viewers of this blog
— On Wed, 6/16/10, Kuerno De Chivo <kuernodec….@….com >
From: Kuerno De Chivo <kuernodec….@….com>
Subject: New Hampshire (not Texas) Fires First Shot Of Civil War?
To:
Date: Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 11:13 PM
This is pretty incredible. As I did my last news search for the night I found this article (over a week old).
Let’s see if they really put any teeth behind this as the intention is surprisingly clear!
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2009/HCR0006.html
New Hampshire Fires First Shot Of Civil War by passing Resolution Immediately Voiding Several Federal Laws,
Threatens Counterstrike Against Federal “Breach Of Peace”
6/6/2010 Posted By Pat Dollard.
The New Hampshire state legislature took an unbelievably bold step Monday by introducing a resolution to declare certain actions by the federal government to completely totally void and warning that certain future acts will be viewed as a “breach of peace” with the states themselves that risks nullifying the Constitution.”
This act by New Hampshire is a clear warning to the federal government that they could face being stripped of their power by the States (presumably through civil war!).
The remarkable document outlines with perfect clarity, some basics long forgotten. For instance, it reminds Congress “That the Constitution of the United States, having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the law of nations, slavery, and no other crimes whatsoever;. . . . . therefore all acts of Congress which assume to create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumerated in the Constitution are altogether void, and of no force;”
Federal gun crime laws? Void. Federal drug crime laws? Void. The gazzillion other federal criminal laws that deal with anything other than the specific enumerated crimes? ALL VOID.
One would think that if any lawyer anywhere in the entire country was worth his salt, all federal criminal trials would have ended years ago. This seems to prove that most lawyers are dullards.
New Hampshire deals a complete death blow to the pending federal hate crimes legislation by pointing out “That, therefore, all acts of Congress of the United States which do abridge the freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, are not law, but are altogether void, and of no force;
. . . . .”
Later in the Resolution, New Hampshire makes clear what the feds are now risking if they proceed further: The removal of all powers from the federal government by the States!
Quoting directly from the Resolution: [“That any Act by the Congress of the United States, Executive Order of the President of the United States of America or Judicial Order by the Judicatories of the United States of America which assumes a power not delegated to the government of United States of America by the Constitution for the United States of America and which serves to diminish the liberty of the any of the several States or their citizens shall constitute a nullification of the Constitution for the United States of America by the government of the United States of America. Acts which would cause such a nullification include, but are not limited to:
I. Establishing martial law or a state of emergency within one of the States comprising the United States of America without the consent of the legislature of that State.
II. Requiring involuntary servitude, or governmental service other than a draft during a declared war, or pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.
III. Requiring involuntary servitude or governmental service of persons under the age of 18 other than pursuant to, or as an alternative to, incarceration after due process of law.
IV. Surrendering any power delegated or not delegated to any corporation or foreign government.
V. Any act regarding religion; further limitations on freedom of political speech; or further limitations on freedom of the press.
VI. Further infringements on the right to keep and bear arms including prohibitions of type or quantity of arms or ammunition; and That should any such act of Congress become law or Executive Order or Judicial Order be put into force, all powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States shall revert to the several States individually. Any future government of the United States of America shall require ratification of three quarters of the States seeking to form a government of the United States of America and shall not be binding upon any State not seeking to form such a government; and That copies of this resolution be transmitted by the house clerk to the President of the United States, each member of the United States Congress, and the presiding officers of each State’s legislature.”]
Searching for the Holy Order and 23 High Priests- Part Two
By OneWhoIsWatching
www.threewatches.blogspot.com
In part one of this article we reviewed corroborating accounts of the calling of Lyman Wight and others to the High Priesthood of Melchizedek and his testimony of the Father and the Son.
He was the first Elder in this dispensation to be given the Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God, which has been named after Melchizedek, a great High Priest who established Zion and translated his people.
As we saw from the testimony provided, the spirit in Joseph would reveal who God wanted to ordain and then the spirit within Lyman would ordain that person. Lyman ordained 16 people including Joseph and Sidney. Joseph ordained Lyman and the remaining elders of the 23 who were ordained. Some were called by the voice of the Lord out of heaven and others were chosen by the voice of the Lord out of heaven.
The Man of Sin is Revealed
Shortly after Lyman Wight was filled with the Spirit and had the heavens opened to him, bearing witness of the Father and the Son, the spirit of Satan entered the room and possessed several of the brethren.
Interestingly, according to some of the testimony given, various people at the conference struggled with possession and evil spirits for the next two days!
“Joseph put his hands on Harvey Whitlock and Ordained him to the high Priesthood he turned as black as Lyman was white his fingers was set like Claws he went round the Room and showed his hands and tried to speak his eyes was in the shape of Ovil Oes. [Spelling?]
Hyrum Smith said Joseph that is not of God Joseph said do not speak against this I will not believe said Hyrum unless you inquire if God owns it Joseph bowed his head a short time got up and Commanded Satan to leave Harvey laying his hands upon his head at the same time.
At that very instant an Old man said to way two hundread and fourteen pounds sitting in the window turned a complete summersett in the house and came his back across a bench and lay helpless Joseph told Lyman to cast Satan out he did.
The man’s name was Leman Copley formaly a Shaker The evil spirit left him and as quick as lightning Harvey Green fell bound and screamed like a Panther.
Satan was cast out of him but imediately entered so I heared it continued all day and the greater part of the knight“. (Levi Handcock)
Here is the recollection of Ezra Booth;
“Another Elder, who had been ordained to the same office as Wight, at the bidding of Smith, stepped upon the floor. Then ensued a scene, of which you can form no adequate conception; and which, I would forbear relating, did not the truth require it.
The Elder moved upon the floor, his legs inclining to a bend; one shoulder elevated above the other, upon which the head seemed disposed to recline, his arms partly extended; his hands partly clenched; his mouth partly open, and contracted in the shape of an italic O;
his eyes assumed a wild ferocious cast, and his whole appearance presented a frightful object to the view of the beholder.— “Speak, Brother Harvey” said Smith. But Harvey intimated by signs, that his power of articulation was in a state of suspense, and that he was unable to speak.
Some conjectured that Harvey was possessed of the devil, but Smith said, “the Lord binds in order to set at liberty.”
After different opinions had been given, and there had been much confusion, Smith learnt by the spirit, that Harvey was under a diabolical influence, and that Satan had bound him; and he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him.
It now became clearly manifest, that “the man of sin was revealed,” for the express purpose that the elders should become acquainted with the devices of Satan; and after that they would possess knowledge sufficient to manage him. This, Smith declared to be a miracle, and his success in this case, encouraged him to work other and different miracles.” (Ezra Booth)
John Whitmer’s recollection is consistent with the others;
“While the Lord poured out his spirit upon his servants, the Devil took occation to make known his power. He bound Harvey Whitlock <and John Murdock> > so that he could not speak and others were affected, but the Lord showed to Joseph the Seer the design of this thing, he commanded the devil in the name of Christ and he departed to our joy and comfort”
Zebedee Coltrin recalled;
“Harvey Whitlock was ordained next with the same promise but after his ordination, when standing on his feet, he seemed paralyzed. His mouth was drawn into the shape of an italic O, and his arm was stretched out as if nailed to a cross. Joseph rebuked the power that had seized him, and it left him”
Philo Dibble recalled;
“Then Harvey Whitlock stepped into the middle of the room with his arms crossed, bound by the power of Satan, and his mouth twisted unshapely. Hyrum Smith arose and declared that there was an evil spirit in the room. Joseph said, “Don’t be too hasty,” and Hyrum sat down.
Hyrum rose the second time, saying,
“I know my duty and will do it,” and stepping to Harvey, commanded the evil spirits to leave him, but the spirits did not obey, Joseph then approached Harvey and asked him if he believed in God. Then we saw a change in Harvey”
The above accounts of this event seem to highlight both the powers of light and darkness that were manifest during the first bestowal of this highest priesthood.
Great miracles and the opening of the heavens and the testimony of Jesus Christ took place.
Conversely, as promised, the “man of sin” was revealed. The power of Satan was revealed in great power and those who had been given the priesthood and were faithful, now had power to discern and overcome evil spirits.
The Dynamics of Ego
Statements from leaders of the church in later years would indicate that jealousies and contentions would eventually evolve and manifest themselves as a result of this event. One can only imagine the amount of pressure everyone felt, realizing that those who were “worthy” would receive the endowment of the highest priesthood while everyone else watched.
Additionally, some of the Elders had a hard time accepting the experience as being from God and “some doubting took place“.
John Corrill makes reference of this in his reminiscence of the event;
“… there was a revelation received, requiring the prophet to call the elders together, that they might receive an endowment. This was done, and the meeting took place some time in June.
About fifty elders met, which was about all the elders that then belonged to the church. The meeting was conducted by Smith. Some curious things took place. The same visionary and marvellous spirits spoken of before, got hold of some of the elders;
it threw one from his seat to the floor; it bound another, so that for some time he could not use his limbs nor speak; and some other curious effects were experienced, but, by a mighty exertion, in the name of the Lord, it was exposed and shown to be from an evil source.
The Melchizedek priesthood was then for the first time introduced, and conferred on several of the elders. In this chiefly consisted the endowment—it being a new order—and bestowed authority.
However, some doubting took place among the elders, and considerable conversation was held on the subject. The elders not fairly understanding the nature of the endowments, it took some time to reconcile all their feelings.”
Doubts about the High Priesthood
Some characterized this holy event as not being of God, claiming that the New Testament and Book of Mormon Churches never had High Priests in them.
Oliver Cowdery and his brother in law David Whitmer became very jealous of Sidney Rigdon when he joined the Church and became so influential. They felt he had undue influence over Joseph Smith and that he was the instigator of this event.
Below are the remarks of David Whitmer after he left the church. He is among those who eventually rejected the introduction of the Highest Priesthood;
“The next grievous error which crept into the church was in ordaining high priests in June, 1831. This error was introduced at the instigation of Sydney Rigdon. The office of high priests was never spoken of, a revelation would always come just as they desired it. Rigdon finally persuaded Brother Joseph and never thought of being established in the church until Rigdon came in.
Remember that we had been preaching from August 1829, until June, 1831—almost two years—and had baptized about 2,000 members into the Church of Christ, and had not one high priest. During 1829, several times we were told by Brother Joseph that an elder was the highest office in the church….
In Kirkland, Ohio, in 1831, Rigdon would expound the Old Testament scriptures of the Bible and Book of Mormon (in his way) to Joseph, concerning the priesthood, high priests, etc., and would persuade Brother Joseph to inquire of the Lord about this doctrine, and of course to believe that the high priests which had such great power in ancient times, should be in the Church of Christ to-day. He had Brother Joseph inquire of the Lord about it, and they received an answer according to their erring desires..
High Priests were only in the church before Christ; and to have this office in the “Church of Christ” is not according to the teachings of Christ in either of the sacred books: Christ himself is our great and last High Priest.
Brethren—I will tell you one thing which alone should settle this matter in your minds; it is this: you cannot find in the New Testament part of the Bible or Book of Mormon where one single high priest was ever in the Church of Christ. It is a grievous sin to have such an office in the church. As well might you add to the teachings of Christ—circumcision—offering up the sacrifice of animals—or break the ordinances of Christ in any other way by going back to the old law of Moses..
In Kirtland, Ohio, in June, 1831,… the first High Priests were ordained…. When they were ordained, right there at the time, the devil caught and bound Harvey Whitlock so he could not speak, his face twisted into demon-like shape. Also John Murdock and others were caught by the devil in a similar manner. Now brethren, do you not see that the displeasure of the Lord was upon their proceedings, in ordaining High Priests? Of course it was” (An address to All Believers in Christ)
Whitmer brings up a great point about no High Priests being present in the New Testament Church. However what he didn’t grasp is that Joseph Smith was not just restoring the New Testament Church of Christ.
He was restoring many of the Old Testament priesthood gifts and preparing the Saints to establish Zion, just as it had been prophesied in the book of Mormon. He was doing just as the High Priest Enoch did with his people, just as the High Priest Melchizedek did with his people, just as the High Priest Jesus Christ did with the Nephites.
In order for the Church of Christ to establish Zion, the office of high Priest needed to be restored.
Brigham Young, like David Whitmer is another that struggled with the concept of a third and “highest” priesthood.
He had been comfortable with the first two priesthoods that had been restored in 1829. He was in a dubious position 3 ½ years after the martyrdom when he and the twelve created a first Presidency, having himself never been ordained a High Priest!
Undoubtedly, he was under intense pressure to explain how he could claim to be president over the Church and the High Priesthood when in fact, he had never been ordained a high priest.
He made the following statement;
“Now will it cause some of you to marvel that I was not ordained a High Priest before I was ordained an apostle? It was William McLellin who told Joseph that I and Heber were not ordained High Priests, and wanted to know if it should not be done.
Said Joseph, “Will you insult the priesthood? Is that all the knowledge you have of the office of an Apostle? Do you not know that the man who receives the apostleship receives all the keys that ever were, or that can be conferred upon mortal man?
When a man is ordained to be an Apostle, his Priesthood is without beginning of days, or end of life, like the Priesthood of Melchizedek; for it was his Priesthood that was spoken of in this language, and not the man. Ref Here
Brigham Young’s reminiscence that Joseph smith made the above remark and the claim that the Apostleship holds all the keys that ever were, is not consistent with the events that transpired in the history of the church or the teachings of Joseph Smith, or the scriptures.
Of course, it was not Joseph’s perogative to give the highest priesthood to Brigham or any other man. That priesthood is not given on the basis of lineage or according to “the will of man”. God alone determines who he wants to give that priesthood to.
Brigham makes it sound like an amazing thing that he could be ordained an apostle first, and therefore have no need to be ordained a high priest, priesthood, however, the simple fact of the matter is the Joseph Smith was an apostle in 1829 BEFORE the highest priesthood was conferred in 1831, yet God still saw a need to call Joseph Smith to be ordained a high priest, proving that there is more priesthood authority than that of the apostleship.
Joseph Smith made it clear that the office of High Priest indeed held a greater priesthood than that of a prophet or Apostle;
“That of Melchizedek who had still greater power even power of an endless life of which was our Lord Jesus Christ which also Abraham obtained by the offering of his son Isaac which was not the power of a Prophet nor apostle nor patriarch only, but of King & Priest to God to open the windows of heaven and pour out the peace & Law of endless Life to man &No man can attain to the Joint heirship with Jesus Christ with out being administered to by one having the same power and authority of Melchizedek.” Words of Joseph Smith 245
Clearly, what Brigham Young taught about the priesthood was not accurate or congruent with what the Prophet Joseph Smith had revealed. Although the Apostolic Priesthood holds all the keys necessary to govern the Church and dispense the ordinances of salvation, it is not as great as the priesthood that Melchizedek held.
This event that took place at the first conference held in Kirtland Ohio was very disruptive. Not only did it demonstrate the literal power of the the man of sin, it challenged the existing doctrine of the priesthood.
Additionally, one can only imagine the dynamics that took place between so many strong personalities and the egos involved in experiencing this amazing event.
Keep in mind that the promise had been made that those who were worthy would be given the high priesthood.
What kind of pressure would that put on those attending?
How would you feel if you were one of the ones attending that got passed over for the endowment of High Priesthood? Would that mean that you were not worthy?
What if you were one of the ones that became possessed? Does that mean you are less righteous than others? Or was that experience an endowment in and of itself that gifts a person with discernment?
Lots of questions come to mind as one reviews the listing of those who are present and who were called to the High Priesthood and what transpired that day.
Why does this event create indigestion for many LDS scholars, authors and members?
One possible reason is that it contradicts our current two levels of priesthood belief system that has been perpetuated in the Church down to this very day.
David Whitmer brings up a very important point when he said; “During 1829, several times we were told by Brother Joseph that an elder was the highest priesthood office in the church..“
That statement was true at the time Joseph made it prior to the restoration of the Highest Priesthood at the Morley Farm. Things changed when the highest priesthood was restored. Yet even today it is taught in the Church that the Apostolic Priesthood is the greatest priesthood there is.
Another possible reason that the restoration of the highest priesthood causes indigestion is that several of the elders ordained to the High Priesthood almost immediately rejected the fulness of the gospel and the priesthood they had been given, and became critics of Joseph Smith and the Church. Others fell away later.
That is disturbing.
Yet, as we are told in the Book of Mormon, there must be opposition in all things.
The falling away of some who were called to the high priesthood gives greater insight into the Lords declaration that some were called and some were chosen.
Lyman Wight, however, had the heavens opened to him, testifies of God the Father and his Son and then spends the remainder of Joseph Smiths ministry as one of Joseph’s most loyal associates and passionate witnesses of Christ and the LDS restoration movement. With that resume, he then rejects Brigham Young’s leadership.
It is surprising that he was not considered an obvious candidate to lead the church during the succession crisis.
The fact that Lyman had been ordained to the Highest Priesthood and had seen the Father and the Son, while Brigham had not been so privileged seemed to be lost upon the majority of the Saints at the time of the succession issue. It did however, apparently seem significant to Lyman, who seems to have had very little regard for Brigham.
That reason alone would cause some to want to downplay the significance of this event and the role that Lyman Wight played in the work of the Lord up to the time of the Martyrdom.
But there are other issues pertaining to the restoration of the office of the High Priest that are curious as well.
What about high profile Elders who played such an important role in very early stages of the restoration such as William Smith, Levi Hancock, Orson Pratt, Zebedee Coltrin and Newel Knight that were present but passed over for the Highest Priesthood?
What about Zebedee Coltrin, who would eventually see God and Christ while attending the school of the prophets, why was he passed over? Was he later born of due time like Paul? BTW, the school of the prophets was not introduced until AFTER the HIGH PRIESTHOOD was introduced! Indeed these men were the designated prophets for which the school was instituted.
Apparently, Oliver Cowdery, one of the three witnesses and co-presidents of the Church, was not even present at this meeting, how odd it that? (was he to be the 24th High Priest to complete the quorum?)
How is it possible that word went out about this meeting enabling elders from the east, south, north and west to gather, yet Oliver could not be there?
Although the Far West Record records David Whitmer as being present, he apparently denies having been present in one of his later writings. Is his name in the Far West Record just a mistake made by some of the clerks, including his own brother who was the conference historian? If so, it is very strange that his name is listed in the Far West Record and stranger still that he is called as one of the Elders who is to travel to Missouri in section 52, the day after the conference is completed.
Curiously, Martin Harris, another of the three witnesses, who the Lord had previously referred to as a “wicked man” in one of the revelations, is the only one of the three witnesses that was ordained a High Priest on that occasion!
Of the 23 that were ordained High Priests, all had previously been ordained Elders except for Martin Harris who had been ordained a Priest… this takes on even greater significance when one remembers that his two brethren of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon, Oliver and David had previously been called by revelation to choose and ordain the 12 apostles.
Was there a reason why Oliver and David should not have the highest priesthood in their stewardship in calling the Twelve Apostles? Since the quorum of the Twelve were going to take the preparatory gospel to the dispersed of Judah, one has to wonder.
How strange that Martin is ordained a High Priest, yet is not invited to participate with Oliver and David who were not High Priests, in choosing the Twelve Apostles!
What about Brigham Young?
Why was he missing when the Highest Priesthood was revealed at the Morley Farm?
It is interesting to note that Brigham Young learned about the Book of Mormon and the restoration of the Church of Christ and the fulness of the gospel in 1830, about the same time that Lyman Wight did. Yet Brigham Young did not participate in this great event at the Morley Farm because it took him two years to think things over before joining the church.
Young was eventually drawn to Mormonism after reading the Book of Mormon shortly after its publication in 1830. Samuel Smith, brother to the Prophet Joseph, tracted through the area where the Young family lived with a knapsack of the newly printed scripture.
Two of these copies made their way into the hands of Brigham’s siblings and began to circulate through the family.
Brigham Young later reminisced his lengthy conversion process;
“When the [B]ook of Mormon was first printed, it came to my hands in two or three weeks afterwards. Did I believe, on the first intimation of it? . . . ‘Hold on,’ says I. . . . ‘Wait a little while; what is the doctrine of the book, and of the revelations the Lord has given? Let me apply my heart to them. . . . I considered it to be my right to know for myself, as much as any man on earth. I examined the matter studiously for two years before I made up my mind to receive that book. . . . I wished time sufficient to prove all things for myself.” He later recalled: “I was not baptized on hearing the first sermon, nor the second, nor during the first year of my acquaintance with this work.”
Besides studying the Book of Mormon, Brigham wanted to learn the character of those who professed to believe in it. He apparently found it important to judge the messengers as well as the message;
“I watched to see whether good common sense was manifest; and if they had that, I wanted them to present it in accordance with the Scriptures. . . . [W]hen I had ripened everything in my mind, I drank it in, and not till then.”
We can only assume that Brigham’s absence at the special conference and God’s unwillingness to have him ordained to the highest priesthood in later years was all part of Gods plan for him.
Perhaps one of the most curious things about this event is the order in which people were called and ordained to the High Priesthood. We know that God is a God of order. The very first man ordained obviously had a very significant position in this newly ordained quorum of High Priests. It seems probably that he would be the president of the quorum.
The fact that Lyman Wight was the first to be ordained to the High Priesthood and the first to have the heavens parted and to testify of seeing the Father and the Son after his ordination, instead of Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery or Sidney Rigdon is very, very significant!
Here is Lyman’s reminiscence of the event;
“On the 4th of June 1831, a conference was held at Kirtland, <Ohio> represented by all the above mamed [named] branches; Joseph Smith our modern Prophet presided; and here I again saw the visible manifestations of the power of God as plain as could have been on the day of pentecost and here for the first time I saw the Melchisedec priesthood introduced into the church of Jesus Christ as anciently; whereunto I was ordained under the hands of Joseph Smith, and I then ordainded Joseph and Sidney and sixteen others such as he chose unto the same priesthood. The spirit of God was made manifest to the heeling of the sick, cast<ing> out devils, speaking in unknown tongues, discerning of spirits, and prophesying with mighty power, After the two days the conference broke up receiving the revelation which appointed 28 elders their Mission to Missouri”
Lyman Wight is one of the best kept secrets of the restoration movement.
Few members of the Church have any comprehension of who he was and the sacrifices he made for the kingdom.
If you have not taken the time to familiarize yourself this amazing disciple of Christ who became known as the “Wild Ram of the Mountains” and who was given the cryptic title and military/priesthood title of “baneemy” in one of the revelations, please click here. He is among the first laborers of the last kingdom that will be returning soon. I strongly suggest you get to know him.
He probably expended more energy in trying to live the law of consecration for the duration of his life than any other personality in the movement. In a revelation given after his ordination as a high Priest the Lord said;
“And again, I say unto you that it is my will that my servant Lyman Wight should continue in preaching for Zion, in the spirit of meekness, confessing me before the world; and I will bear him up as on eagles’ wings; and he shall beget glory and honor to himself and unto my name.” Doctrine and Covenants 84: 21-26)
This revelation reminds us that the high priests were called to “preach for Zion”
If there is one major theme interwoven throughout Wight’s life-long ministry, it was his continual personal attempt to live consecration and facilitate others to do it.
He was passionate about living it and was quite critical of other leaders growing out of the succession debate such as Strang, Thompson and Young for their inability to personally live consecration, as well as their acquisition of wealth which he felt was extracted from their followers.
One writer made the following observation about Wight;
“There is one significant thing about Lyman Wight’s community efforts, which deserves attention because of its extreme rarity in Utopian experiments. Wight, as acknowledged leader, never desired or sought temporal or spiritual advantage over his fellows.
When he received letters from Strang, “King James I, president of the church”; from Brigham Young, telling of ecclesiastical honors acquired since the death of Joseph, and Thompson with his many titles, he was wont to sign his answer with profound sarcasm, “Lyman Wight, and nothing else.”
In scathing denunciation of those who he thought were acquiring wealth at the expense of their brethren, he wrote of the Melchisedec priesthood:
‘But those who aspire after this priesthood, and seek to obtain it while rolling in luxuries, and seeking the applause of men, I would simply ask them these questions, Have you drunk of the cup whereof Christ drank, and have you been baptized with the baptism wherewith he was baptized?
Have you followed the commandment that he gave to the young man and sold all that thou hadst, and give it to the poor?
Have you sold the last coat you had, and traveled in your shirt sleeves sooner than you would see the poor left to the ravages of a ruthless mob?
Have you traveled on foot hundreds and hundreds of miles and sought a place for the Saints to camp at, night after night, that they might seclude themselves from the hands of wicked and evil designing men, and then roll yourself in a blanket, and lay yourself in an open prairie, under the open canopy of heaven, in the cold night dews?
If you have not done all these, you have not yet fulfilled the saying of the Saviour where he says, If you would be greatest you must first become the least and servant of all….I again ask, when did the church flourish?
When the Nephites that dwelt upon this land did not call “aught they possessed their own; but it all belonged to the Lord.”
When did the people mourn and lament, and howl and weep?
I answer, when their priests were lifted up in the pride of their hearts, to the wearing of fine apparel and oppressing the poor and the hireling in his wages, riding in fine carriages, with cushioned seats, bristled carpets, leaving the poor to work out their own salvation among those who are their vital enemies; while the rich and opulent were permitted to increase in opulence by tithing and wringing from the hands of the peasant his hard-earnings.”
Lyman Wight was one of the few personalities that practiced what he preached… and one of the few that other leaders with strong personalities could not intimidate or control. His boss was a Jewish Carpenter!
The timing of the special conference at the Morley Farm is very significant. We must remember that it was the first conference of the church in Kirtland. The church was in its infancy and had just migrated to Kirtland as a result of the Lord’s admonition to gather there so that he could give them the law of consecration and an endowment which would enable them to escape the power of the enemy;
“And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless— Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be endowed with power from on high”
It is amazing to realize that today the Saints are in a scattered condition among the gentiles and are now at the mercy of secret combinations because we failed back then to live consecration and enjoy the protective priesthood hedge that was being offered.
The LAW of consecration was given to the Saints shortly after they arrived in Kirtland on January 2nd 1831. This law is what will enable the Saints to establish Zion once they are endowed again with the highest priesthood. That is why it is called the law of the celestial kingdom and it is the law upon which Zion is built;
“And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.” D&C 105: 5, 32, 34
Now, in this first conference of the Church held just two months after the law of the Gospel was given, the Lord was restoring the priesthood that Enoch and Melchizedek held. Why? So that the Saints could be gathered, sanctified and establish Zion just as the people of Enoch and Melchizedek did.
Having detailed what happened at the special conference having to do with the restoration of the Highest Priesthood and the revealing of the “man of sin“, we need to review the content in sections 52 through 65 now that we have the proper context for these revelations.
Amazingly, section 52 which is given the day after the conference ended, and was specifically addressing the conference attendees, begins by saying;
“Behold, thus saith the Lord unto the elders whom he hath called and chosen in these last days, by the voice of his spirit- saying: I, the Lord, will make known unto you what I will that ye shall do from this time until the next conference, which shall be held in Missouri, upon the land which I will consecrate unto my people, which are a remnant of Jacob, and those who are heirs according to the covenant”
How many times have you read section 52 without realizing that those elders who had just been called and chosen were the 23 High Priests that had just receive the Melchizedek Priesthood?
Context is critical. Read this section now with the information you have just read about this amazing conference at the Morley Farm and it will become much more meaningfully to you!
In part three we will briefly review sections 52-65 in the context of what had just happened at that conference.
Following that, we will address the seriousness of the failure on the part of the Saints to successfully consecrate and establish Zion.
We, Latter day Saints, have been lulled into a sleepy state of believing that our inability to ultimately live the law of consecration back at that period of time was unfortunate, but not really that big of a deal.
We just assume that things moved forward without any significant consequences. I even had a visitor to one of my blogs postulate that the law of consecration is optional. He opined that one can still repent and be baptized and make it into the celestial kingdom without choosing to live the higher law of consecration.
In part three of this article we are going to have a sobering reality check. We are going to review what God has told the church about the law of consecration. We are going to find out that it is not optional and the consequences upon the church for not living it were immediate and harsh, with long reaching ramifications that continue to affect the posterity of the Saints unto the third and fourth generation.
To be continued…
Searching for the Holy Order and 23 High Priests- Part One
By OneWhoIsWatching
www.threewatches.blogspot.com
From JST Exodus 34 we learn that as a result of the wickedness and idolatry of the children of Israel Moses breaks the first set of plates that contained the higher law and he was commanded to hew two other tablets containing the lesser law;
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee two other tables of stone, like unto the first, and I will write upon them also, the words of the law, according as they were written at the first on the tables which thou brakest; but it shall not be according to the first, for I will take away the priesthood out of their midst; therefore my holy order, and the ordinances thereof, shall not go before them; for my presence shall not go up in their midst, lest I destroy them.” Exodus 34: 1-2, 14
From this and modern revelation we can surmise that the fulness of the Gospel and the LAW OF ZION sometimes referred to as GOSPEL LAW and the LAW OF CONSECRATION as contained in section 42 of the D&C, was contained in the first set of plates that Moses broke.
We are also informed that it is the Holy Order of the Priesthood according to the Son of God that must administer the LAW of ZION and ESTABLISH ZION.
Section 84 provides additional clarity pertaining to the holy order or highest portion of the Priesthood that was taken out of the midst of the Children of Israel.
“Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;
But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory.
Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;
And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until john, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb.”
It is evident that Moses was endeavoring to implement the LAW OF CONSECRATION, sanctify his people and establish ZION just as Enoch and Melchizedek had done among their peoples.
As a result of the rebelliousness of the people, Moses was taken out of their midst along with the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, the higher law and the ability to establish Zion..
Old Testament Prophets however prophesied that in the latter days, the Highest Priesthood would be restored and Zion would be re-established after becoming “captive” for a period of time;.
“Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem: loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” href=”http://scriptures.lds.org/en/isa/52/1#1″>Isa. 52: 1
Providing additional clarity and context the prophet responded to a question about the above verses;
“Questions by Elias Higbee: What is meant by the command in Isaiah, 52d chapter, 1st verse, which saith: Put on thy strength, O Zion—and what people had Isaiah reference to?
He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost.” href=”http://scriptures.lds.org/en/dc/113/7-8#7″>D&C 113: 7-8
It appears from ancient and modern scripture that God will send one like Moses to bring again Zion in the end times. He will enable the daughter of Zion who had previously lost the priesthood power to redeem Zion to put on their former strength and complete the final establishment of Zion!
If someone were to ask you to name the most significant events in the history of the Church between 1830 and 1836 what would you say?
Before studying this topic in depth, I would have suggested
- The visitations of John the Baptist and Peter, James and John to restore the lesser and higher priesthood in 1829?
- The vision now known as section 76, wherein the three degrees of glory were revealed to Joseph and Sidney in 1832?
- The Pentecostal outpourings of the spirit during the dedicatory services at the Kirtland Temple in 1836?
- The appearance of Moses, Elias, Elijah and Jesus Christ to Joseph and Oliver in 1836?
However, I would submit to you that there is another event that took place in 1831 that rivals all of the amazing events listed above.
Curiously, it is not covered in lesson manuals nearly as often, or spoken of as frequently by LDS scholars and the details are not as widely known among members of the church.
I am speaking about the restoration of the Highest Priesthood upon the earth in 1831 at the Morley Farm in Kirtland Ohio.
On that occasion 23 priesthood holders were ordained to the High Priesthood after the Holy order of God according to the voice of God out of the heavens. It appears they were ordained to the same High Priesthood that Melchizedek and Enoch had been ordained to. Even the same priesthood that is required to establish Zion.
As we shall see as this story unfolds, it appears the restoration of this priesthood upon the earth in 1831 was necessary for the establishment of Zion. That is why Section 52 was given the day after this conference, detailing the commission God gave to these High Priests and other Elders to travel to Jackson County and begin the holy order of consecration at the designated place, even the center stake of Zion. Shortly after that, those not commanded to plant themselves in Zion were to also establish the holy order of the law of consecration in Kirtland.
In late spring of 1831 Joseph Smith called a conference in Kirtland, Ohio. Without any known previous recorded revelation directing the Prophet Joseph Smith to ordain individuals to the office of high priest, the office was restored and bestowed upon 22 elders and one priest.
Joseph Smith said, “…the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood was manifested and conferred for the first time upon several of the Elders. It was clearly evident that the Lord gave us power in proportion to the work to be done, and strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs required.” History of The Church, 1:175-177
Several others including Lyman Wight stated that the Melchizedek priesthood was bestowed for the first in this dispensatin time at that conference.
Church apologists such as Elder B.H. Roberts and others conclude that the statement made by the prophet and others concerning the bestowal of the “Melchizedek Priesthood for the first time” is not accurate and that it the special conference deals with the restoration of the “office” of high priest for the first time, not the bestowal of the “Melchizedek Priesthood” for the first time. (History of The Church,1:176)
As we review the events pertaining to this special conference in the context of ancient and modern scripture and the words of those involved in it we shall be better prepared to determine if Joseph Smith, Lyman Wight and others were correct in his declaration that the Melchizedek Priesthood was being bestowed for the first time in this dispensation.
This controversial event that took place at the Morley Farm created a lot of indigestion for several leaders of the Church back at that time and, I suspect, based on the lack of interest in this event in contemporary lesson manuals, articles and books by LDS gospel scholars, it continues to create indigestion for some clear up to today.
A few years ago on one of my pilgrimages to Kirtland, while talking to a guide, he confided in me that there was a “secret document” circulating around, in the possession of some of the tour guides that listed who the 23 people were that were called and ordained to the high priesthood on that fateful day.
The list graded each of the 23 as either an “F” for “faithful” or “A” for “Apostate”.
The apostates were then categorized into one of three sub-categories depending, according to the creator of the document, on how much light they had previously received and how far they fell, judging by how much they eventually persecuted Joseph Smith and the Church, and, ultimately, whether they supported Brigham Young during and after the succession crises.
The secrecy of the document intrigued me and I pleaded with him to obtain a copy of it for me which he did.
I didn’t really see the significance of the event back then so I simply cataloged the document for future reference.
Recently, as I have been studying some priesthood issues, it occurred to me how significant that event was and I desired to review the document.
Unfortunately I could not find it so I tried to find out who these 23 men were by googling the topic. To my surprise, I was not able to easily find who these 23 High Priests were on the internet by simply doing key word searches. (and I am not too shabby with key word searches)
I then called the Visitors Center in Kirtland Ohio and asked the tour guides. They were not aware of the document I had previously obtained from their predecessors and did not have any record of who the 23 High Priests were.
They did, however, give me the phone number of the Visitors Center at the Morley Farm. I called there and asked the guide.
He did not know either and he commented how strange it is that such information its not easily found and that the event that took place there at the Morley Farm is not as highly profiled as the visitations of John the Baptist and Peter James and John, the vision Joseph and Sidney had in section 76 or the visitation of Christ and Moses, Elijah and Elias in the Kirtland Temple.
He asked me to send him the names of the 23 High Priests if I ever found out who they were.
Still not wanting to go through the many religious documents that I have collected over the years in search of the missing document, I decided to simply go to the greatest source of information I had pertaining to the early history of the Church in Kirtland Ohio. I dug out my book entitled “Joseph Smiths Kirtland”, a book I highly recommend. This book is one of my prized possessions because it details so many of the incredible Pentecostal events that took place in Kirtland.
It was written by Karl Anderson, a member of the church who, as I recall, was a stake president in the Kirtland area and who has spent much of his life researching the events that took place in Kirtland Ohio. He is affectionately referred to a “Mr. Kirtland” by some members of the church.
To my surprise and utter amazement, the book did not list the 23 High Priests, in fact, it didn’t even detail the events that took place on the occasion in which the ordinations of the first High Priests in this dispensation that took place at the Morley Farm!
Very strange indeed!
Luckily, I eventually found the missing document I had obtained in Kirtland. Since finding it, I have been informed that the names of all the priesthood leaders attending the conference and the names of the 23 men given the High Priesthood are contained in the Far West Record. I was able to get a copy of that and verify that the names in the document that I had been given were accurate.
In part one and part two of this post I want to summarize from seven credible corroborating historical sources what took place on that remarkable day and also the dynamics that may have been taking place between the strong personalities involved.
Fortunately we have a pretty good record of what transpired from the diaries and journal entries of Levi Hancock, Ezra Booth, Zebedee Coltrin, Philo Dibble, John Whitmer, John Murdock, John Corrill and Lyman Wight.
John Whitmer was the conference clerk.
Admittedly, Ezra Booth and John Corrill had apostatized by the time they wrote their remarks and became skeptics and enemies of Joseph Smith and the Church. Ezra Booth’s remarks are tainted a little bit from his bias which, in my opinion makes his recollection just as important as the others in getting a balanced corroboration of testimony of what took place on that occasion.
In future parts of this series, we will review the role that the third and highest priesthood was to play in implementing the law of consecration and establishing Zion.
I will also detail what we learn about the three different divisions of priesthood from this event and other teachings of the scriptures and the words of Joseph Smith.
I will use this event and a discourse on priesthood given by Joseph Smith as a context in which the concept of priesthood can be viewed and the three different levels of priesthood can be examined.
The results of this summary and the implications of what was taking place at that conference at the Morley Farm may surprise you. It may challenge your current assumptions about the priesthood. Most importantly, we can learn from history what to expect in the prophetic future, when the first laborers of the last kingdom return.
Here is a brief outline of what happened during the first part of at that amazing conference.
According to John Whitmer, a conference was called by Joseph Smith which promised a “blessing” if the Elders were faithful.
“June 3, 1831. A general conference was called, and a blessing promised, if the elders were faithful, and humble before him. Therefore the elders assembled from the East, and the West, from the North and the South. And also many members.”
Others remembered the “blessing” that was to be poured out as being referred to as an “endowment“. This is the early and more accurate use of the term endowment in LDS theology;
“… About this time Solomon Came to see me and brought Zebedee Coltrin along he held some metings and wanted I should go to Kirtland with him we started the latter part of May got there by the Last of the month I lerned that on the fourth of June there was to be an indowment of some Elders” Levi Hancock
Others described the promised events as the beginning of the “great and mighty work” and that it would involve the “work of miracles“. (spelling corrections from these accounts have not been made. Many of these good people spell the same way I do!)
“As the 4th of June last was appointed for the sessions of the conference, it was ascertained, that that was the time specified, when the great and mighty work was to be commenced, and such was the confidence of some, that knowledge superceded their faith, and they did not hesitate to declare themselves perfectly assured that the work of miracles would commence at the ensuing conference. With such strong assurances, and with the most elevated expectations, the conference assembled at the time appointed. To give, if possible, energy to expectation, Smith, the day before the conference, professing to be filled with the spirit of prophecy, declared, that “not three days should pass away, before some should see their Savior, face to face.” (Ezra Booth)
In his introduction, the Prophet likened the kingdom of God to a grain of a mustard seed and that some would live to see it put forth its branches.
He prophesied that some of those present would become martyrs.
“The fourth of June came and we all met in a little string of Buildings under the hill nere Isaac Morleys in Kirtland Geauga County Ohio we all went to a school house on the hill about one fourth of a mile asending nearly all the way it was builded of logs they was filled with slab benches here the elders were seated . the meeting was opened as usual Joseph began to speak he said that the kingdom that Christ spoke of that was like a grain of musterd seed was now before him and some should see it put forth its branches And the angels of heaven would some day come like Birds to its branches just as the Saviour had said and Some of you shall live to see it come with great glory some of you must die for the testimony of this work” (Levi handcock)
Philo dibble testified that in Joseph’s opening remarks he prophesied that there were some in their midst that would see the heavens opened and bear record of the coming of the Son of Man before the conference came to a close.
The Prophet also prophesied that the “Man of Sin” would be revealed during the conference as well.
“I saw Joseph Smith the Prophet when he first came to Kirtland, and was with him in the first conference held in that place, which was in a small school house. When he arose in our midst he said that before the conference closed there were those present who should see the heavens open and bear record of the coming of the Son of Man, and that the man of sin should be revealed”
Apparently Joseph had prophesied of these events the previous day as well. John Whitmer notes that “Joseph Smith Jr. Prophecied the day Previous that the man of Sin should be revealed”
According to Ezra booth, the Prophet cautioned those in attendance in his preliminary remarks to “not be overcome with surprise”
According to Jared Carter, Joseph Smith, who was not a gifted speaker, became a talented speaker as he became filled with Spirit;
“Before this [i.e., June 6, 1831] was that memorable day when God first gave the fullness of the high priesthood to the elders of the Church of Christ. At the interview, Brother Joseph, notwithstanding he is not naturally talented for a speaker yet he was filled with the power of the Holy Ghost so that he spoke as I never heard man speak for God, by the power of the Holy Ghost spoke in him and marvelous was the display of the power of the spirit among the elders present..” Journal of Jared Carter, typescript copy, LDS Church Archives, Salt Lake City, Utah
John Whitmer noted that;
“The Lord made manifest to Joseph that it was necessary that such of the elders as were considered worthy, should be ordained to the high priesthood.”
Lyman Wight becomes the First High Priest of this Dispensation
Next, Lyman Wight takes the spotlight as the first man in this dispensation to be ordained to the High Priesthood after the order of the Son of God, also referred to as the highest division of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
This of course seems contradictory to those who thought that the “higher” priesthood that Joseph and Oliver had previously received by Peter James and John, which included the calling of Apostles, was the highest division of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
As we will see in later parts of this article, there are three divisions of the priesthood;
1- The “lesser” priesthood (Aaronic or Levitical, named after Aaron)
2- The “Higher” priesthood (Patriarchal named after Abraham & Moses)
3- The “Highest” priesthood (Named after Melchizedek)
Joseph Smith has stated that “all priesthood is Melchizedek”, nevertheless, there was obviously a higher division of priesthood than what Joseph and Oliver had received previously from Peter James and John.
According to section 84, the lesser priesthood after the order of Aaron and the higher priesthood after the order of Abraham and Moses are the two priesthoods necessary to govern the church, dispense the ordinances of salvation and reveal the mystery of Godliness.
Those two priesthoods are bestowed according to lineage and/or according to the “will of man”.
The highest priesthood which is called the Melchizedek Priesthood which was bestowed anciently and at the Morley Farm however, according to the scriptures, is not given based on a man’s lineage nor is it given according to the will of man. Rather, it is given according to the voice of God out of the heavens as we shall see from the following accounts of this amazing event that happened at the Morley Farm.
“And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice, according to his own will..” (see href=”http://scriptures.lds.org/en/jst/4″>JST Gen. 14: 25-40 )
Opening events during the Conference at Morley’s Farm-
First let us review the recollection of Ezra Booth who states that Lyman Wight was the first to be ordained to the High Priesthood and to be given the honor of ordaining 16 of the 23 men who would be given the high priesthood, including Joseph and Sidney. It was Joseph’s privilege and responsibility to have it revealed to him from God who should be ordained to the high priesthood;
“He then laid his hands on the head of Elder Wight, who had participated largely in the warm feeling of his leader, and ordained him to the High Priesthood. He was set apart for the service of the Indians, and was ordained to the gift of tongues, healing the sick, casting out devils, and discerning spirits and in like manner he ordained several others;
and then called upon Wight to take the floor Wight arose, and presented a pale countenance, a fierce look, with his arms extended, and his hands cramped back, the whole system agitated, and a very unpleasant object to look upon.
He exhibited himself as an instance of the great power of God, and called upon those around him “if you want to see a sign, look at me.” He then stepped upon a bench, and declared with a loud voice, he saw the Savior… It, however, procured Wight the authority to ordain the rest. So said the spirit, and so said Smith. The spirit in Smith selected those to be ordained, and the spirit in Wight ordained them…”.
Here is the recollection of John Witmer regarding the ordination of Lyman Wight
“After he had prophecied, he laid his hands upon Lyman Wight (h) (swh) [and ordained him] to the High Priesthood after the holy order of God. And the Spirit [blank] fell upon Lyman and he prophecied concerning the coming of Christ He said that there were some in this congregation that should live until the Savior shoud decend from heaven with a shout, with all the holy angels with him.
He said the coming of the Savior should be like the Sun rising in the east and will cover the whole earth. So will the coming of the Son of man be. Yea, he will appear in his brightness and consume all before him. And the hills will be laid low, and valies be exalted, and the crooked be made straight, and the rough Smooth. And some of my brethren Shall suffer marterdom for the sake of the religion of Jesus Christ and seal the testimony of Jesus with their blood He saw the hevans opened, and the Son of man sitting on the right hand of the Father, Making intercession for his brethren, the Saints He said that God would work a work in these last days that tongue cannot express, and the mind {of} is not capable to conceive.
The glory of the Lord shone around At this conferen[c]e these were ordained to the high priesthood, namely Lyman Wight (h) (swh), Sidney Rigdon, John Murdock, Reynolds Cahoon, Harvey Whitlock, and Hyrum Smith were ordained by Lyman Wight excet S Joseph Smith Jr except Sidney Rigdon. The following [were ordained] by Lyman Wight by commandment. Parley P. Pratt (h), Thomas B. Marsh (h), Isaac Morley, Edward Partridge, Joseph Wakefield, Ezra Thayer, Martin Harris, Ezra Booth who denied the faith, Harvey Whitlock denied the faith, also Joseph Wakefield, Joseph Smith Sr., Joseph Smith Jr., John Whitmer. [In the Far West Record, Sidney Rigdon is ordained by Lyman Wight.
Levi Hancock recalled that Joseph “looked at Lyman Wight and said you shall see the Lord and met him nere the Corner of the house and laid his hands upon him and blessed him with the visions of heaven he then stepped out on the floor and said I now see God, and Jesus Christ at his right hand let them kill me, I should not feel death as I am now”
Zebedee Coltrine stated; “Then Lyman Wight was ordained a High Priest. Joseph told him he should see the heavens opened and after he was ordained he stood on his feet and testified that he could see the heavens open and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”
Following this conference, the majority of the 23 High Priests would be called upon to travel to Jackson County, preaching the gospel along the way. As Elder Wight traveled on this mission and others he would inform people that “he was a preacher of the gospel after the order of Melchizedek”
In the next part of this article we shall consider the dramatic turn of events at this special conference that took place after Lyman Wight was ordained and bore witness of the Father and Son. After that, the power of the adversary was displayed and the “Man of Sin” was revealed.
To be continued…
We have found the Messias!
Seven Seals and the Paradisaical Millennium
The 8,000 Year Time Line of the Earth
By OneWhoIsWatching www.threewatches.blogspot.com
I suppose one of the most stirring passages of scripture that characterizes the spirit of watching is found in the 1st Chapter of the Gospel of John.
There were two disciples of John the Baptist that were with him on the occasion that John saw Christ and said “Behold the Son of God”. At that point, these two disciples left John and began following Christ.
“Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.
He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.”
These passages are exquisite to me every time I think about them. Can one comprehend what Andrew must have been feeling when he finally found the Messiah he had been waiting and watching for?
Can we comprehend how he felt as he was able to share the good news with his brother Peter who had also been watching for the Messiah?
Can we imagine what Peter must have been thinking and feeling when those words penetrated him?
The story line continues;
“The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”
What would it have been like to be Philip or Nathaniel?
Interestingly enough, during the 2nd watch, then Edward Partridge, one who had also been waiting and watching, traveled to meet the Lords Seer, the Lord compared Edward to Nathaniel of old;
“And again, I have called my servant Edward Partridge; and I give a commandment, that he should be appointed by the voice of the church, and ordained a bishop unto the church, to leave his merchandise and to spend all his time in the labors of the church; To see to all things as it shall be appointed unto him in my laws in the day that I shall give them. And this because his heart is pure before me, for he is like unto Nathanael of old, in whom there is no guile.” D&C 41: 11
It appears that it was somewhat common knowledge among the Jews that a Messiah was to soon make his appearance. Even the remnants of the other tribes of Israel who were looked down upon by the Jews seemed to understand that it was the appointed time for the Messiah to appear as demonstrated by the Samarian woman at the well, who, when conversing with Christ acknowledged;
“I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” John 4: 25
It is truly amazing that after the 400 years of the heavens being closed since Malachi, that there was a group of believers who had studied the prophecies and were found waiting and watching for the Messiah and his forerunner.
It is not clear how the small group of watchers knew how they stood in time, whether it was mainly from personal revelation, from searching the scriptures, from the signs of the times, from the preaching of John the Baptist… or a combination of all of the above.
I am reminded however of the words of Daniel who had been searching in the “books” to understand various time lines and where he stood in time;
“In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” (Dan 9:2)
The scriptures are filled with time line related prophecies and the continual reminder of the importance for believers in all three watches to understand where they stand in time relative to the prophecies to be fulfilled in the day they live.
Yet most of the Jews were encompassed about in the cares of the world.
Interestingly, although many of the Jews embraced Christ as a prophet initially, they eventually allowed their corrupt and jealous leaders to turn them against Him.
There was only a small remnant that were earnestly waiting and watching in anticipatory zeal along with Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathaniel. They were actively looking for him, and he was looking for each of them.
I love the scripture that says Jesus went forth to Galilee and “findeth Philip”.
The Savior said; “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me..”
My wife mentioned in a previous blog about how I became obsessed with doing scriptural word searches using infobases and other word crunching software back in the 1980’s, however she did not mention why I became so obsessed.
It all began in about September or October of 1988 when a friend named Eric who I had not seen for a few years, knocked on the door of my new home in Holiday Utah and told me he had a video I needed to see. It was about the “seven seals” and the “prophetic time line of the earth”.
That was a topic I had always had a keen interest in. I dropped everything and viewed it with great interest… little did I know that my life and my priorities were about to change dramatically.
In the video, a “Brother Nelson” (who was a young insurance salesman) was giving a seminar on the time line of the earth. He quoted many of the time line related scriptures found in the Book of Revelation and section 77 of the D&C.
I had previously read several articles about the seven thousand year time line including a 1983 Ensign article and I had been amazed at how incongruent all of the information I had seen had been with the revealed word of God.
The book of Revelation makes it clear that after the first six thousand years are fulfilled, the seventh seal opens and an hour of judgment takes place, following the hour of judgment, the millennium begins. Following the millennium, a little season takes place before the earth is celestialized. Clearly, the entire time line as revealed in the scriptures could not possibly fit into a seven thousand year time period.
The novel thing about the time line theory being promoted in the video by “Brother Nelson” was what I will refer to as the “overlap” theory.
In short, the theory proposed that the sixth seal and the seventh seal overlapped each other and that the seventh seal began before the sixth seal finished.
Eric and I went to the next scheduled time line seminar to hear the time line presentation in person. While watching the video, I had had a strong impression that that the person who had originated the overlap interpretation was actually someone other than Brother Nelson. After attending a live presentation I asked Brother Nelson if he would be kind enough to give me the contact information of the person who had originated the theory and taught him what he was teaching.
My question surprised him because he was teaching the information as if he had discovered the concepts of the theory from the scriptures himself, but with a little further prodding he finally gave me the name and phone number of a “Brother Edmonds” who lived in Mapleton Utah.
Eric and I contacted Brother Edmonds and requested a meeting with him. If my aging memory serves me correctly, we sat spell bound from about 4 PM to about 4 Am in his living room as he shared with us his version of the divine time line of the earth and the associated prophesies of the last days.
We then returned the following day and had another all night session.
Brother Edmonds was an elderly mam who had been a convert to the Church. As I recall, he was part Indian. I would describe him as fascinating, passionate, eccentric and fanatic… all in a good way. He had a very harsh warning for those who had not prepared temporally for the judgments that were about to hit the world.
He had a self contained retreat that could function off the grid. He had developed an apparatus for generating his own electricity and a large barracks filled with food storage, clothing and survival equipment. He was financially independent and was somewhat of an alchemist who had developed a secret process for refining gold.
Brother Edmonds claimed to have been very close personal friends with President Joseph Fielding Smith and other prophets of the Church. He claimed that the divine time line, including the overlap theory which he taught had been taught to him by President Smith.
As Brother Edmonds shared the parable of the goodman of the house who was to be watching lest the thief come and break in, etc., the message penetrated my heart in such a way that changed my life forever. I feel as it I have been sleeping with one eye open ever since!
That was the experience 21 years ago that got me searching the scriptures in a much deeper way than I have ever searched them before.
Following that experience I purchased some scripture searching software and became obsessed with doing key word, key phrase and key topic searches. There were days I would spend 8- 10 hours at a time following the various search strings I was working on.
Although the topics I began with was that of the divine time line of the earth and end times prophecy, I soon found that every topic I would search would lead me to several other gospel topics and on and on. The more I learned, the more I realized how little I knew! I have now studied enough to realize I know NOTHING! lol
In the weeks following my initial visit with Brother Edmonds I began researching what President Joseph Fielding Smith had written about the divine time line of the earth.
After reading what he said in Doctrines of Salvation, I was shocked to find that President Smith had taught something quite different than what Brother Edmonds was teaching. To my surprise, President Smith did not teach about the overlapping of the sixth and seventh seal and a seven thousand year timeline, in fact, he taught that the divine time line actually consisted of eight thousand years instead of seven thousand years!
“We have evidence beyond dispute that Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden about 6,000 years ago, or perhaps a short time less. It is possible using bible chronology and that given by the Lord in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants to figure this almost accurately… Moreover, our Savior came in the meridian of time… This means that it was about half way from the beginning of “time” to the end of “time”. Anyone who desires can figure it for himself that our Lord came about 4,000 years from the time of the fall. The millennium is to come some time following the 2,000 years following to 2,000 years after his coming. then there is to be the millennium for 1,000 years, and following that a “little season” the length of which is not revealed but which may bring “time to its end about 8,000 years from the beginning.” (Page79-81 Volume One Doctrines of Salvation See also the thesis of Arch Bishop Ussher who spent his life studying the time line of the earth from a literal interpretation of the Bible)
President Smith taught, according to my interpretation of his writings and in conjunction with the word searches I have done, that the seven seals mentioned in the book of Revelation did not represent the entire time line of the earth.. it only had reference to the seven thousand year portion of temporal time that the earth is passing through but he revealed that during the seventh seal, the earth would leave temporal time and go into eternity where it would experience a paradisaical millennium. It would leave this telestial order shortly after the seventh seal begins and go into a paradisaical (terrestrial) order. It would be gone from our telestial reckoning of time for the space of a thousand years and then it would return back to temporal time and finish the remainder of the seventh seal in temporal time.
He taught that the paradisaical millennium that takes place in eternity was separate and distinct from each of the seven millenniums that take place in temporal time.
I returned to brother Edmonds and confronted him about the apparent discrepancy between his interpretation of the time line vs the interpretation provided by President Smith in Doctrines of Salvation.
Although it was not my intent to challenge his sincerity or integrity, I fear that is how he perceived the grilling he was getting. His response was not a pleasant one. It resulted in an unpleasant exchange between the two of us… we parted ways on a rather sour note, never to see each other in this life again.
I must say however that I feel eternally indebted to Brother Edmonds for his passion about prophecy and for instilling in me a desire to know where I stand in time and the importance of having the spirit of watching and waiting.
He has since passed on, but I shall always be grateful that he was the catalyst for a profound and defining experience in my life.
Needless to say, the time line being presented by Brother Nelson and Brother Edmonds created no small stir among many people back at that time.
There have since been several groups that have created their own variations of that time line, or were inspired to create different theories altogether, some of them have promoted their own time line videos.
At the time that all of this fuss was taking place, there were rumors about the general authority, under whose stewardship Mapleton Utah, fell, who was Paul H. Dunn, meeting Brother Edmonds and also with Brother Nelson and warning them to tone things down and to not circulate inaccurate information.
Apparently church headquarters was getting lots of calls and letters from members of the church who were beginning to panic about the perilous time they felt we were entering into.
In an effort to sort things out in my own mind on these issues and to see if the church had an official position on the matter, I wrote a letter to Elder Dunn inquiring about the time line doctrine being taught by Brother Edmonds and the discrepancies I had found between his teachings and those written by President Smith. I included a diagram of my own interpretation of the timeline for his review.
I was curious to know what the official position of the Church was on the time line of the Church.
He was kind enough to respond to my inquiry and to provide a copy of a letter he had recently received from brother Nelson.
At the time, I found it disconcerting that Brother Dunn would commend me for coming to the “proper source” on such doctrinal matters while failing to respond to the doctrinal observations and questions I asked.
As a heretic that tends to be somewhat of a non-conformist, I have tried to find discrepancies in the general nine part time line taught by president Smith as I have searched the scriptures. After 21 years, I have yet to find a major discrepancy in it. In my opinion, his general time line interpretation fits perfectly with every time line statement in the scriptures. Below is my interpretation of the time line based on the scriptures and the writings of President Smith.
1- 1st Seal (one thousand years)
2- 2nd Seal (second thousand years)
3- 3rd Seal (third thousand years)
4- 4th Seal (fourth thousand years
MIDDLE OF TIME
5- 5th Seal (fifth thousand years)
6- 6th Seal (sixth thousand years)
7- Beginning of the 7th Seal (Hour of Judgment/Redemption+ possibly about 41 years although the days will be cut short)
8- Paradisaical Millennium (“There shall be time no longer” the earth leaves temporal time for the “space of 1,000 years”
9- Remainder of the 7th Seal (“Little Season” possibly about 959 years)
The above time line which is patterned after the writings of president Smith and many of the time line related prophecies, solves many of the discrepancies found in many of the articles written about the seven seals. Aside from the fact that the time line of the earth revealed in the scriptures cannot possibly fit into a 7,000 year period, another of the glaring discrepancies that most articles pertaining to the seven seals creates, has to do with the term “meridian”.
President Smith taught that the term meridian, as used in this context, means “middle’ and “high point” of time. As you can see from the proposed time line spoken of by President Smith, the coming of Christ did in fact take place in the middle of time;
If the above scenario is anywhere close to being correct, we are very close to the end of the sixth seal… and very close to the events spoken of by Christ that will take place in the last generation of probationary time (which take place before the seventh seal opens)
Of course Joseph Smith and many of the other general authorities from earlier times have been warning the Saints for a long time that we are getting near to the end of the six thousand year period spoken of in the scriptures, but perhaps one of the most disruptive scriptural interpretations derived from the Edmonds time line presentations is found in section 20 of the D&C;
“The rise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh, it being regularly organized and established agreeable to the laws of our country, by the will and commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called April— ” D&C 20:
The reason this scripture is so disruptive is because in the past, the six thousand year period was spoken of in a vague context, taking for granted that our current calendar is not completely accurate and that we didn’t know the exact date of Christ’s birth, hence we don’t know when the six thousand year period comes to an end and we therefore don’t know exactly where we stand in time.
However a literal rendering of section 20 enables us to identify with pinpoint accuracy when the fall of Adam, the birth of Christ, the atonement of Christ and the end of the sixth seal takes place!
In essence, it tells us where we stand in time!
But can we take those passages in section 20 literally?
In another post I addressed the fascinating history behind section 20 and pointed out that it was actually written by Oliver Cowdery, not Joseph Smith. There is some disputation upon whether or not it should be consider an inspired writing or an actual revelation. In later years historical documents have surfaced that indicate that it was in fact a direct revelation from God.
Apparently President Kimball did take section 20 literally. On Easter Sunday April 6th 1980 he made the following statement;
“My brothers and sisters, today we not only celebrate the Sesquicentennial of the organization of the Church, but also the greatest event in human history since the birth of Christ on this day 1,980 years ago. Today is Easter Sunday” (May 1980 Ensign)
Harold B Lee also apparently agreed with the proposition contained in section 20 verse one;
“This is the annual conference of the Church. April 6, 1973, is a particularly significant date because it commemorates not only the anniversary of the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this dispensation, but also the anniversary of the birth of the Savior, our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ…” (ref)
When does the Sixth Seal End?
Recently I was asked by a friend, “Why didn’t anything happen on April 6th 2000?”
His question was based on the following assumptions;
1- 1- The Meridian (or Middle) of time is marked by the Birth of Christ
2- 2- The probationary period of mankind is six thousand years
3- 3- Section 20 reveals that our current calendar is correct to within a few months stating that on April 6th 1830, it had been 1830 years since the birth of Christ.
Based on the above assumptions, the end of the sixth seal would have been April 6th 2000. For this reason some people were anticipating that something might happen on that date.
Although I agree with President Smiths nine period chronology of the divine time line and with his definition of “Meridian” meaning middle and high point of time, I disagree with the assumption some people make when they identify the birth of Christ as the “coming of Christ” . I think this is an erroneous application of the term meridian.
Edmonds identified the birth of Christ with the scriptural phrase “coming of Christ”. he felt that the birth of Christ was a prophetic marker pointing to the middle or high point of time.
I am going to suggest that the middle of time and the high point of time was not the birth of Christ, rather it was the Atonement of Christ. (or possibly half way between the birth and atonement of Christ)
Notice the curious scripture found in the Pearl of Great Price;
And it came to pass that Enoch looked; and from Noah, he beheld all the families of the earth; and he cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of the Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life? And the Lord said: It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance. And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me.” Moses 7
It appears to me that the meridian of time is being linked with the day of the Lord which is clearly identified by the wickedness of those who shed the sanctifying blood of the righteous Savior. Clearly the emphasis pertaining to the events associated with his coming in the MERIDIAN of time is being placed on the crucifixion and the atonement of Christ, not his birth!
It is understandable that one would think that Christ has delayed the time of the end of probation and his return in glory in the beginning of the seventh seal if one assumes that the meridian of time is based on the birth of Christ. But I would suggest that is a false premise.
IF the following suppositions are true, then the end of the sixth seal would be closer to April 6th 2033 than to April 6th 2000;
· probationary time does consist of six thousand years
· section 20 is accurate in validating what the true calendar is
· the term Meridian does have reference to the middle and high point of the divine time line
· the high point of time was in fact the atonement of Christ
Of course we know that the events of the last generation leading up to the end of probationary time, as described by Christ in Matthew 24 must take place sometime during the last biblical generation of the sixth seal.
That would possibly mean that the last 40 year generation of the probationary period before the judgment which takes place in the beginning of the seventh seal, would have possibly begun in 1993 and will possibly end in 2033, or some time sooner since we not that things will be cut short!
Obviously, the events mentioned in Matthew 24 don’t necessarily begin when the generation begins, they simply take place sometime during that generation. Additionally, they are all completed before the entire generation expires for we are told that those days will be shortened;
“And except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved; but for the elect’s sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.” JS-M 1: 20
The thought that the last generation might have begun back in 1993 is an awesome thought to ponder.
The thought that we are currently living in the tail end of the six thousand years is really not a far stretch, after all, as pointed out earlier, President Smith declared that we are nearly at the end of the first six thousand years period. Joseph Smith also declared that those living in his day were living close to the end of the six thousand years;
“The world has had a fair trial for six thousand years; the Lord will try the seventh thousand Himself..” TPSJ 5:252
If those living at the time of Joseph Smith were nearing the end of the six thousand year period, then we know that we are even closer to it!
The comments from Joseph smith would indicate that section 20 could be accurate.
Joseph Fielding Smith has since echoed those sentiments with even more specificity;
“We have evidence beyond dispute that Adam was driven out of the Garden of Eden about 6,000 years ago, or perhaps a short time less. It is possible for us, by using the Bible chronology and that given by the Lord in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants to figure this almost accurately.” Doctrines of Salvation
Ezra Taft Benson also felt we were close to the end of the six thousand year probationary period:
“For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second Coming…” (ETB, Spoken to a gathering of youth in Southern California after he became President of the Church)
Ezra Taft Benson also made the following comments to a youth group:
“Youth of Zion, do you realize you are living in the days of the fulfillment of these signs and wonders? You are among those who will see many of these prophecies fulfilled. Just as certain as was the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem and the scattering of the Jews, so shall these words of the Savior be certain to your generation.
We know not the day nor the hour of His coming, but of this you may feel assured: You stand close to the great day of the Lord! In His words of modern revelation, we say to you, “Seek the face of the Lord, always” (D&C 101:38).
Could it really be possible that we are already living during the last generation of probationary time?
1993 was a year to remember for many people, for many reasons.
Just to jog your memory, the most popular show was “60 minutes”, and the academy award for the best picture that year was given to “Schindler’s List”. That year the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to Nelson Mandela .
The most popular fiction that year was “The Bridges of Madison County” starring Clint Eastwood, written by Robert James Waller.
The four most popular Nonfiction books that year were written by an eccentric conservative political talk radio host who would gain such popularity that he would affect politics in a huge way, a degenerate sex pervert who would have been jailed for his antics in the previous generation, but with the downward trend in morals has become worshipped and revered by men and women alike, a stand up comedian that would create an award winning sitcom based on nothing, and a disenfranchised Latter day Saint who claimed to have died and seen the after life, creating her own quasi-new age religion mingled with bits and pieces of Mormon Doctrine;
1.”See I Told You” … Rush Limbaugh
2.”Private Parts” … Howard Stern
3.”Seinlanguage” … Jerry Seinfeld
4.”Embraced by the Light” … Betty J. Eddie with Curtis Taylor
Such were the latter day movers and shakers shaping the thoughts of our present generation in 1993. Those were the books being embraced by a depraved nation with darkened minds.
If indeed 1993 was the beginning of the last 40 year generation of probationary time, it is not unreasonable to suspect that a very significant event might have taken place that year as a prophetic marker indicating where we stand in time.
I have listed below, some of the major events that took place that year. There is one of them in particular that I find to be very significant.
How about you?
Do you find anything in the following list to be a significant prophetic event? Or are you aware of another event that took place in 1993 that is not on the list that might have been significant?
- The Great Blizzard of 1993 strikes the eastern U.S., bringing record snowfall and other severe weather all the way from Cuba to Québec.
- The European Union was formally established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force on 1 November 1993
- The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
- The World Wide Web is born at CERN.
- John Paxson‘s 3-point shot in Game 6 of the NBA Finals helps the Chicago Bulls, and their third consecutive championship. secure a 99-98 win over the Phoenix Suns.
- U.S. President Bill Clinton announces his ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell‘ policy regarding gays in the American military.
- The Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flood large portions of the American Midwest.
- LDS Apostles offered their sacrifices and oblations in the Kirtland Temple for the first time in over 140 years
- Waco seige in Texas.
- First World Trade Center bombing. Terrorists detonate bomb in underground car park.
- A seven year peace treaty signed between Israel and PLO. .
- The HAARP Program ( which stands for “High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program” was created. The HAARP Program is jointly managed by the US Air Force and the US Navy. Though the military denies the allegations, scientific evidence shows that HAARP can cause earthquakes (and other devastations). Russia and the U.S. have already signed treaties agreeing not to use the weather as weaponry against each other.
Assuming that 1993 was the beginning of the last forty year generation of probationary time, those who are watching have great cause to be very anticipatory.
We are now over 1/3 the way through the last generation in the sixth seal during which the preparatory event for the Lords Second coming in glory will take place before the final judgments in the beginning of the seventh seal will take place.
While many believing Mormons, Protestants and Catholics are watching for the judgments to take place in the opening of the seventh seal and the second coming of the Lord in glory, those who understand the three watch doctrine realize that the Marvelous Work and a Wonder must first take place BEFORE the seventh seal can begin.
Our Father Adam and the Seer and the Spokesman and the rest of the first laborers of the last kingdom must first make their appearance to seal up the righteous and the wicked.
During this time the Savior will return to the vineyard in secret. All of this must happen BEFORE the judgments of the seventh seal and the second coming in glory can take place.
The return of the servants and the testimony of the Servants to the world will be followed by the testimony of earthquakes and the voice of thunderings and the voice of lightnings and the voice of tempests and voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. (See section 88)
As we watch in anticipation for the events to take place, the Lord has given many signs of the times for us to be watching for. Additionally there are other keys to help us understand what is to take place in the near future.
Among them, the dates that revelations took place in the D&C can possibly be very helpful.
Understanding the feasts of Israel and the meaning and sequence behind them and how they related to prophecy can be very helpful.
Perhaps another key was given in section 59
On August 7th 1831 the Lord said;
“Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
Nevertheless thy vow shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; But remember that on this, the Lord’s day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord.
And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full.”
Although that revelation was given on a Sunday, verifying that the Lords Sabbath day is indeed on Sunday during this period time, it is interesting to note that it was also given on a NEW MOON!
Hence, the statements from Isaiah and other prophets about the significance of the New Moon are still very applicable. It may be helpful to keep your eyes on the New Moon dates coming up.
This site is very helpful for researching past New Moon dates as well as future ones- Phases of the Moon Calendar
We live in amazing times.
Are you waiting and watching?
Will you be one of the ones that they find, just as the Lord found Philip?
Perhaps you will be one of the first to find them.
Perhaps you, like Andrew, will have the privilege of seeking out your beloved brother or sister and declaring “I have found them! The Servants have returned!”
Perhaps just as Philip found Nathanial, you will find your fellow believers and declare;
“I have found those who have been identified in the scriptures as the first laborers of the last kingdom, they have returned just as the Lord God of Israel has promised!”
“Behold the Time has Fully Come”
“Behold the Time has Fully Come”
By OneWhoIsWatching www.threewatches.blogspot.com
On April 3rd 1836 Jesus Christ, the Jehovah of the Old Testament suddenly and secretly appeared in the Kirtland Temple to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.
While standing upon the Ark of the Covenant, suspended in mid air, the Savior of the world declared;
“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father. Behold, your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me; therefore, lift up your heads and rejoice.
Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.
Yea, I will appear unto my servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
Yea the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house.
And the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and this is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people. Even so. Amen.” ( D&C 110 See also Exod 25:22)
Following that declaration and the transferring of the keys of the gathering of Israel from Moses and the dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham by Elias, Elijah the Prophet appeared and made the following declaration;
“Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi– testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come- To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse- Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors.”
The declaration of Elijah the prophet in the above passages appears to be declaring two things;
1) The prophecy pertaining to Elijah the Prophet contained in Malachi had just recently been fulfilled-
2) The keys to the dispensation of the great and dreadful day of the Lord had been committed to Joseph and Oliver. (That future dispensation has also been revealed as the dispensation of the fulness of times. See D&C 27: 13, D&C 121: 31, D&C 124: 41, D&C 128: 18, 20)
Following this amazing series of visitations Joseph and Oliver had their scribe, Warren Cowdery, (Olivers brother), write down a brief description of the event into a journal.
During the remaining eight years of Joseph’s life, there is no evidence of a public disclosure of this most sacred event by any of these three individuals.
Joseph even gave a public discourse on the future appearance of Elias, Elijah and Messiah without taking the opportunity of disclosing what had already happened or attempting to build upon what had taken place in the Kirtland Temple with Elias, Elijah and Messiah.
It would be decades before the Kirtland Temple visitation would be revealed to the Saints in an article in the Deseret News and a full Biblical generation of 40 years before it would find its way into the canonized revelations in the D&C.
So what event spoken of by Malachi had FULLY COME to pass by April of 1836?
Some LDS scholars believe that the very appearance and declaration by Elijah the Prophet in the Kirtland Temple was the fulfilling of the Malachi’s prophecy but we know that cannot be the case.
We know this because the Angel Moroni gave Joseph Smith a more inspired version of the prophecy revealing that Elijah needed to reveal the priesthood through a physical ordinance by hand, and such an event did not take place pertaining to the visit of Elijah the prophet during the Kirtland Temple visitation;
“..Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord..”
It is very important to note that the revealing of the priesthood was to take place by hand, not just by verbal declaration.
With this in mind, others assume that perhaps the appearance of John the Baptist to Joseph and Oliver wherein he laid his hands on them and ordained them to the priesthood must have been the fulfillment of the Malachi prophecy that Elijah was referring to..
One could actually make a very strong case for that deduction given the fact that the New Testament identifies John the Baptist as the one coming in the spirit of Elijah that Malachi spoke of. (another interpretation could be the fact that he identified Christ, the great High Priest as the Messiah, and then baptized him by hand)
Nevertheless, Isaiah and the inspired version of the Bible reveal that the prophecy by Malachi was to have multiple fulfillment’s, with two separate prophets that come in the spirit and calling of Elijah.
The JST version of the NT identifies John the Baptist as Elijah the preparer who was to first come and prepare the way. But it reveals that in the end times there would be a second prophet coming who was referred to as Elijah the restorer.
Hence, the declaration of Elijah the prophet in the Kirtland Temple was clearly not referring to the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood by the hand of John the Baptist which had occurred in 1829 as a preparatory act in restoring the church of Christ to the earth.
So if John the Baptist is Elijah the preparer, who is Elijah the restorer?
And when did Elijah the restorer reveal the priesthood by hand indicating the time had fully come of which Malachi prophesied about?
Clearly it would have to have taken place between the time John the Baptist restored the Aaronic priesthood in 1829 and the visitations in the Kirtland Temple in 1836.
The Purpose of this paper is to document exactly what the prophecy of Malachi was referring to, who Elijah the restorer is and exactly when the revealing of the priesthood by hand took place. (and who the rightful holder of the priesthood is that is spoken of by the ancient prophets)
By doing key word, key phrase and key concept searches, it appears that the act of revealing of the priesthood may include the act of revealing who the Davidic King would be in the third watch, or, in other words, He whose right it is to reign over the kingdom and dispense the priesthood throughout the kingdom.
When the great overturning of the wicked rulers and their kingdom of iniquity take place, the profane wicked prince of Israel will be dethroned and a literal descendant of David, He whose right it is to rule, will be crowned to reign in behalf of Christ until Christ comes in his glory;
“And thou, profane awicked prince of Israel, whose bday is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the adiadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is blow, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.” Ezek. 21: 27 (See also D&C 58: 22)
Regarding this topic, the Prophet Joseph Smith once taught;
“… the throne and kingdom of David is to be taken from him and will be given to another by the name of David in the last days, raised up out of his lineage.” (Doctrinal History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 253.)
I am suggesting that Elijah the restorer is the descendant of King David spoken of by Joseph Smith and many of the ancient prophets, who has the priesthood right to reign.
Let us first review the prophesy in Malachi as it reads in the King James Version;
” For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
It is a great blessing to have the additional information that has been revealed during the laying of the foundation of the LDS restoration pertaining to those passages through the Book of Mormon, the D&C and the Inspired Version of the Bible and other teachings.
We will review the additional light that God has revealed about those passages and then we will use this information to create an amalgamated text of Malachi’ prophecy.
Then we will identify exactly who Elijah the Restorer is and when he revealed the Priesthood by hand indicating that the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy had fully come. We shall see that just as Elijah the preparer had a type and a literal fulfillment of the prophesy, Elijah the restorer does too;
Listing of additional things revealed pertaining to Malach 4
1- Isaiah prophesies of the mission of Elijah and Christ reveals that every prophecy of Isaiah will have a dual fulfillment; One fulfillment prior to his visit to the Nephites and one fulfillment after his visit to the Nephites; “The avoice of him that crieth in the wilderness, bPrepare ye the cway of the Lord, make straight in the desert a dhighway for our God”. ( Isaiah prophecies about the coming of Elijah see Isa. 40: 3) “…for great are the words of bIsaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; atherefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.” (Christ reveals that all things Isaiah spoke of have been and shall be… they apply to the Jews and to the Gentiles 3rd Nephi)
2- According to the Inspired Version of the Bible there are actually two Elijahs, a preparer and a restorer; The inspired version reveals that there are actually two prophets that come in the calling of Elijah (which is spelled Elias in the New Testament) The first Elijah comes to prepare the way, the second comes in the last days to restore all things. JST Matt. 11: 13-15 15 And if ye will receive it, verily, he was the Elias, who was for to come and prepare all things. JST Matt. 17: 10-14 “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things, as the prophets have written. And again I say unto you that Elias has come already, concerning whom it is written, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and they knew him not, and have done unto him, whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. But I say unto you, Who is Elias? Behold, this is Elias, whom I send to prepare the way before me. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist, and also of another who should come and restore all things, as it is written by the prophets.
3- JS History tells us that Elijah will “plant” in the hearts of the children the promises of the fathers;
“…After telling me these things, he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of aMalachi; and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy, though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as it reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the aday cometh that shall bburn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall burn as cstubble; for they that come shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And again, he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the cLord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers. If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.
4- Section 98 informs us that the terms “fathers” and “children” also apply to “Prophets” and “Jews” “Therefore, arenounce war and proclaim peace, and seek diligently to bturn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children; And again, the hearts of the aJews unto the prophets, and the prophets unto the Jews; lest I come and smite the whole earth with a curse, and all flesh be consumed before me.” D&C 98: 17
5- Joseph Smith taught that the word “turn” means “bind” or “seal”. “I wish you to understand this subject, for it is important; and if you will receive it, this is the spirit of Elijah, that we redeem our dead, and connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven, and seal up our dead to come forth in the first resurrection; and here we want the power of Elijah to seal those who dwell on earth to those who dwell in heaven. This is the power of Elijah and the keys of the kingdom of Jehovah. …”Now comes the point. What is this office and work of Elijah? It is one of the greatest and most important subjects that God has revealed. He should send Elijah to seal the children to the fathers, and the fathers to the children.” ” History of the Church, 6:251-53 “”How shall God come to the rescue of this generation? He will send Elijah the prophet. … Elijah shall reveal the covenants to seal the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers” History of the Church, 5:555; Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as are the records on the earth in relation to your dead, which are truly made out, so also are the records in heaven. This, therefore, is the asealing and binding power, and, in one sense of the word, the bkeys of the kingdom, which consist in the key of cknowledge.
15 And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that cannot be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their asalvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made bperfect.
16 And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, I will give you another quotation of Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:29: Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?
17 And again, in connection with this quotation I will give you a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on the arestoration of the priesthood, the glories to be revealed in the last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all subjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, namely, the baptism for the dead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th: Behold, I will send you bElijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.I might have rendered a aplainer translation to this, but it is sufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to know, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a bcurse unless there is a welding clink of some kind or other between the fathers and the dchildren, upon some subject or other—and behold what is that subject? It is the ebaptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they nor we be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the ffulness of times (See section 128)
6- We learn from the appearance of Moroni that it is Gods Servants that will burn the wicked; Moroni reveals, in the Joseph Smith History tells us that “they” who come shall burn them. JS-H 1: 37
7- We know from other prophesies that the word “Lest” means “Before” or “In preparation for”; The dictionary indicates that “lest” some times means “That not”; other times it means “for fear that”, or in other words, “because of” or “in preparation for”. We know that it has to do with the second definition because the scriptures make it clear in multiple places that the earth WILL be smitten with a curse. The point is that Elijah needs to come to prepare and gather the righteous before the curse goes forth, otherwise all of the inhabitants of the earth, including the righteous would be destroyed. (See the prophesied blessing and the cursing in Deut. 30: 1, 19 Also Isaiah’s prophecy that the curse will devour the earth in Isa. 24: 6 etc.)
8- 3rd Nephi reveals that the word “Sun” should be translated “Son” (although both are applicable since the Sun gets it light from Christ); 3 Ne. 25: 2.
Using the information noted above, here is my amalgamated version of the prophesy contained in Malachi;
” For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: for they that come shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, who is to restore all things before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And during the 2nd watch he shall first plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and in the 3rd watch the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers and he will bind and seal the heart of the Prophets to the Jews, and the heart of the Jews to the Prophets, in preparation for when I come and smite the earth with a curse. If it were not for the return of Elijah the restorer, the whole earth, including the righteous would be utterly wasted at his coming” (Amalgamation and interpretation of the text of the prophecy in Mal 4 by the Watcher.. changes in red)
There are some amazing things revealed in this prophecy!
Among them is the fact that Elijah the restorer will first prepare the fathers and the children, the Jews and the Prophets by planting a desire in their hearts. Then at the appointed time, he will seal or bind them up before the curse goes forth;
“Q What are we to understand by the angel ascending from the east, Revelation 7th chapter and 2nd verse?
A We are to understand by the angel ascending from the east is he to whom is given the seal of the living God over the twelve tribes of Israel; wherefore, he crieth unto the four angels having the everlasting gospel, saying: Hurt not he earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And, if you will receive it, this is Elias which was to come to gather together the tribes of Israel and restore all things.”
Notice the related promise that the restorer and his fellow servants will go forth to prepare the Saints by binding up the law and sealing the testimony;
“Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the aGentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bbind up the law and cseal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come” D&C 88: 84
Of course the modern version of this prophesy in section 88 pertaining to the binding up of the law and the sealing of the testimony is in part, a take-off of Isaiah 8.
These passages reveal that when the Davidic Servant returns, who holds the right of priesthood, will be a stumbling block and a rock of offense to both of the kingdoms of Israel that will have become united in the latter days, both the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed of Judah who have gathered unto the gospel covenant. While a remnant will be saved, many will stumble and fall and be snared and taken;
“And he shall be for a asanctuary; but for a bstone of cstumbling and for a drock of eoffence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a fsnare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken. aBind up the testimony, bseal the claw among my disciples.” Isa. 8: 16
Of course, Isaiah and section 88 are prophesying about the time of the cursing and the blessing that Moses prophesied about. ( See Deuteronomy 28-32)
But getting back on topic, who is Elijah the Restorer?
To identify this person we need to go back to the early part of the LDS restoration movement when a fellow by the name of Oliver Cowdery and others were commissioned by the Lord to take the gospel message to another branch of the house of Israel, even the Lamanites.
Oliver was also commissioned to help identify and ordain the 12 apostles that would take the gospel message to foreign lands to gather the dispersed of Judah and the outcasts of Israel, two other branches of the Olive Tree.
Oliver was playing a key role in helping to fulfill the prophesies contained in the allegory of the tame and wild olive trees given by the prophet Zenos. I was reminded the other day by a friend in Utah Valley that the name “Oliver” means “Olive Tree”. What a coincidence!)
In section 6 of the D&C, we read thus:
“And now behold I give unto you (O. Cowdery), and also unto my servant Joseph, the keys of this gift, which shall bring to light this ministry.”
What ministry is the Lord referring to?
It appears that the Lord was referring to a separate, existing ministry from the ministry that Joseph and Oliver were involved in… it was the ministry which was to finish the work of bringing to pass the restoration of Israel, and through these means prepare the way for the coming of Christ.
This is truly amazing. The Lord was not giving Joseph and Oliver the keys of this ministry, he was giving them the privilege and calling of bringing an existing preparatory ministry to light!
Shortly after Joseph and Oliver receive this promise that they will be the ones to bring an existing ministry to light, a revelation comes through Joseph for Oliver and others to go on a mission to the Lamanites.
During the mission Oliver and his companions pay a call to Sidney Rigdon and encourage him to read the Book of Mormon.
Within a short period of time, Rigdon has joined the Church, been the means of preparing hundreds of others to come into the church. He meets Joseph Smith for the first time in December of 1830. During that visit, the revelation currently known as section 35 is given in which the Lord reveals that Sidney is the one who is like John the Baptist (Elijah the preparer)
“Behold, verily, verily I say unto my servant Sidney, I have looked upon thee and thy works. I have heard thy prayers, and prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things. Behold thou wast sent forth even as John, to prepare the way before me and before Elijah which should come.”
On the surface, this passage is amazingly clear, yet if we drill down a little further, we see an amazing cryptic message embedded into it.
The passage informs us that Bishop Rigdon’s previous ministry was typological of John the Baptists. It was a preparatory ministry… and, as we have pointed out, John the Baptist was Elijah the preparer who prepared the way for Christ and also prepared the way for the restoration of the Gospel in the 2nd watch.
However, the passage goes on to inform us that Rigdon would in the future, do a greater work. He would have a greater ministry. He would eventually do GREAT THINGS… even as the apostles of old. The implication is that Rigdon’s next work would be that of restorer.
Verses 7&8 provide greater clarity to the future work that Sidney will do in the 3rd watch, they say;
“And it shall come to pass that there shall be a great work in the land, even among the Gentiles, for their folly and their abominations shall be made manifest in the eyes of all people. For I am God and mine arm is not shortened; and I will show miracles, signs and wonders unto all those who believe on my name.”
Now, getting back to the cryptic aspect of the passages;
“thou wast sent forth even as John, to prepare the way before me and before Elijah which should come.”
So, we have Joseph Smith who is identifying Sidney Rigdon and the priesthood by which he conducted his ministry!
I believe that is a shadow fulfillment of the prophecy in Malachi.
Modern revelation reveals that Sidney had been sent to do a preparatory work before the greater work of Elijah the Restorer was to be done. He was first doing a preparatory work but later elijah the Restoreer would reveal the fulness of the priesthood which would bring about a greater work.
It becomes evident that Sidney will be playing a very important part of the greater work and will be working in conjunction with the Lords Seer. .
So, here we have the Lord declaring that Sidney has just finished a preparatory ministry similar to the ministry of John the Baptist, and that he would do GREAT THINGS in a GREATER WORK during the folly of the Gentiles at a future time.
But what about revealing the priesthood by hand?
We know from the angel Moroni that the latter day Elijah the restorer would reveal the priesthood by HAND, or in other words, just as John the Baptist revealed the priesthood by giving it to Joseph and Oliver by the laying on of hands, he who was to come in the spirit and calling of Elijah the prophet in the latter days would also reveal the priesthood ordination, by the laying on of hands.
This is where section 36 becomes hugely important because it provides an explanation of how God himself ordains his servants by hand, through the principle of “divine investiture”, or “divine possession”.
Following the revelation that the Lord gave to Sidney Rigdon, a revelation was given to his friend, Edward Partridge, who had come with him to meet Joseph Smith. In it, the Lord says;
“..and I will lay my hand upon you [Edward Partridge] by the hand of my Servant Sidney Rigdon, and you shall receive my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable things of the kingdom.” (D&C 36:2)
There is an incredible type of how God ordains people.
It was an event similar to this that Elijah the Prophet was acknowledging and declaring in the Kirtland Temple on April 3rd 1836. He was acknowledging that in fulfillment of Malachi’s prophesy, He who would come in the calling of Elijah the Restorer had already revealed the priesthood in preparation for the eventual curse that would be poured out upon the earth.
We know from section 6 that Rigdon will eventually do great things when the great work begins. His past and future ministries had now been brought to light, by revelation, as a result of Joseph and Oliver who had been called to do so.
Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith were told that they had the keys of the gift which should bring to light this ministry;
“And now I command you, that if you have good desires-a desire to lay up treasures for yourself in heaven-then shall you assist in bringing to light, with your gift, those parts of my scriptures which have been hidden because of iniquity. And now, behold, I give unto you, and also unto my servant Joseph, the keys of this gift, which shall bring to light this ministry; and in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.”
Joseph and Oliver were given the gift and the calling to bring to light an existing ministry! A separate one from their own. They were to identify the ministry (and minister) that was currently doing a work! And then they were to assist him when the folly of the gentiles takes place in the 3rd watch!
Lets review what happens after Joseph and Oliver are given the promise of bring an existing ministry to light;
1) The Lord calls Oliver Cowdery, Parley Pratt and others on a mission to the lamanites. During the mission they take a Book of Mormon to Sidney Rigdon who declares it to be a revelation from God.
2) Oliver Cowdery baptizes Rigdon.
3) Rigdon visits Joseph Smith during their first meeting… the first time they ever met, Joseph pronounces a blessing upon Sidneys head and the Lord identifies Sidney as the one like John the Baptist who had previously been sent forth doing a work that was a preparatory work.
4) Shortly thereafter the Lord identifies (through the Prophet Joseph Smith) Sidney Rigdon as the Spokesman from the loins of Judah prophesied about in the Book of Mormon and the JST version of Genesis.
What is a ministry?
According the Webster-
Ecclesiastical function; agency or service of a minister of the gospel or clergyman in the modern church, or of priests, apostles and evangelists in the ancient. Acts 1. Rom.12. 2 Tim.4. Num.4.
Did Joseph and Oliver use the keys they had been given to bring to light the existing ministry and the existing minister who God had previously called to do a preparatory work?
YES!
Please remember that anciently, King David had a seer who worked in concert with him;
“All these which were chosen to be porters in the gates were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office. ”
Are we seeing a pattern here? The priests had to come before King David and Samuel the Seer to be ordained. Remember how the Lord said in the D&C that all those who would go forth to preach the gospel must come before Sidney and Joseph?
Joseph had just translated the Book of Mormon with the help of Oliver as his scribe and Oliver had just been given the promise that at a future time he would get to translate ancient records as well… hence, Oliver also had, or would be given the gift of translation at a future time.
So what exactly was the gift promised to Joseph and Oliver that would enable them to bring to light the existing ministry of he who would come in the spirit and power of Elijah the prophet?
It was the gift of translation!
How did the gift of translation help to identify Sidney Rigdons calling?
Perhaps two of the most important sections of scripture identifying Sidney’s calling are 2 Ne. 3: 17-18 in the Book of Mormon and JST Gen. 50: 24-38 in the Bible. Both of these records came forth through the miraculous gift of translation.
Both of these speak about the “Spokesman” and his ministry and provide a point of reference for latter day revelation to refer to when revealing who Sidney is. Sections 100 and 124 identify Sidney Rigdon to be the Spokesman prophesied about in 2nd Nephi and JST 50;
“And it is expedient in me that you, my servant Sidney, should be a spokesman unto this people; yea, verily, I will ordain you unto this calling, even to be a spokesman unto my servant Joseph.” D&C 100: 9, 11
Certainly the gift of translation that brought forth the Book of Mormon and the inspired version of the Bible (JST) containing prophecies about Rigdons ministry as the spokesman for the one like Moses is part of what the Lord was referring to when he spoke of the gift that Joseph and Oliver had been given.
Furthermore, the revelation in section 6 begins by stating that a Marvelous Work was about to come forth verifying that it had not yet begun!
It was referring of course to a future time.. to the 3rd watch.
I wonder if in the 3rd watch, perhaps Joseph and or Oliver will translate additional records that will shed further light and testimony on the past and future ministries of Sidney Rigdon, Gods Spokesman, and Joseph the Seer, even Elijah the Restorer.
It is remarkable that on this, the new moon of the first month of the transitional year in which the Marvelous Work is very possibly to begin, over 100 elders and other leaders of indigenous tribes in America and other countries have gathered together in a gathering they refer to as “the return of the ancestors“.
Their message to the world is that ;
“we have entered into a very special time in history… It began on October 24 when the blue sphere appeared in the solar system marking.. the end of time”
“there is great change about to happen on earth”
According to one of their spokesmen;
“These elders are coming from all over for ceremony and for prayer. Prayer for themselves and for the world and for all of us.. this is not just an ordinary ceremony this is a ceremony of extreme power because of the timing, because of what it is about and the true meaning behind this of the returning of the ancestors, it talking about the time when the stars open up to us, when the people who actually created the human race re-appear on earth”
How is it possible that so many fragmented tribes of differing beliefs, traditions and in some cases different languages could come together in a united ceremony believing that their ancestors are going to return to teach them wisdom?
The words of the angel Moroni seem very appropriate here;
“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.”
Although the 1st mission of Oliver Cowdery to the Lamanites appeared to be a failure at the time, something obviously took place during the restoration movement with regard to the Lamanites. Elijah the prophet apparently planted something in the hearts of the descendants of these great people.
The Lord has promised that;
“…my awork shall go forth, for inasmuch as the knowledge of a Savior has come unto the world, through the btestimony of the Jews, even so shall the cknowledge of a dSavior come unto my people-
And to the aNephites, and the Jacobites, and the Josephites, and the Zoramites, through the testimony of their fathers-
And this atestimony shall come to the knowledge of the bLamanites, and the Lemuelites, and the Ishmaelites, who cdwindled in unbelief because of the diniquity of their fathers, whom the Lord has suffered to destroy their ebrethren the Nephites, because of their finiquities and their abominations.
And for this very apurpose are these bplates cpreserved, which contain these records-that the dpromises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his epeople;
And that the aLamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the bpromises of the Lord, and that they may cbelieve the gospel and drely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be eglorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.”
[editorial note: At that conference the leading elders from the various tribes held their special meetings behind closed doors. Even though they invited the gentiles to come and join in the general festivities, the gentiles were no allowed to sit in the leadership counsels of the leading elders of the various Indian tribes that were participating.]
We know the Lamanites are going to come to a knowledge of who they are and who God is. The Lord has also promised that “the Lamanites shall bblossom as the rose.”
The words of the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple also seem appropriate at this time that the indigenous tribes have become humble and looking for guidance from their ancestors from the dead;
“And cause that the aremnants of Jacob, who have been cursed and smitten because of their transgression, be bconverted from their wild and savage condition to the fulness of the everlasting gospel;
And the poor and the meek shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they shall be looking forth for the time of my coming, for it is nigh at hand-
(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 35:15)
The 400 year period shown to Father Abraham has now expired. It is time for the final warning and judgment of this wicked nation.
The time for Elijah the restorer and his fellow servants to seal up of the righteous is about to take place.
So, what event was Elijah the prophet referring to when he made his declaration in the Kirtland Temple? Did Joseph the Seer (Elijah the Restorer) fulfill it when he identified the ministry of Sidney Rigdon?
No. That was a shaddow fulfillment.
In an upcoming article, we will review an incredible event that took place at the Morley Farm in June of 1831 wherein God revealed the greatest priesthood through Joseph Smith… and then bestowed it by hand upon Lyman Wight. At that conference 23 newly ordained high priests received the fulness of the priesthood of Melchezedeki for the first time in this dispensation!
I suspect we have not seen the last of brother Oliver. The Lord has said;
“…for I have given unto him power to dbuild up my echurch among the fLamanites..”
Nor have we seen the last of brother Sidney or brother Lyman.
And we certainly haven’t seen the last of Elijah the Restorer!
Trying the Spirits
Try the Spirits
By OneWhoIsWatching www.threewatches.blogspot.comI got a call from a friend last night. The first thing he said is, “Are you sitting down?“
“Yes“, I said.
He said, “My father, who is a flaming liberal subscribes to “The Nation” magazine which is a publication put out by the Democratic Party. You aren’t going to believe what is in it!”
Click here for an audio button with a message from the One Who Is Watching
[I have since been informed by “Joseph” that the publication is not technically put out by the Democratic Party. According to wikipedia; The Nation is a weekly[1] United States periodical devoted to politics and culture, self-described as “the flagship of the left.”[2] Founded on July 6, 1865 at the start of Reconstruction as a supporter of the victorious North in the American Civil War, it is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the US. It is published by the Nation Company, L.P. at 33 Irving Place, New York City.]
He went on to read the following announcement from Share International which was released over the PRNewswire on January 22 and is currently showcased in The Nation magazine.
I don’t know if this was a news item the magazine wanted to highlight or if it was a paid advertisement. I suspect it is a paid advertisement.
Even if it was a paid advertisement, it is remarkable to me, given the message proclaims the emergence of a new political religious order that has the solution for the global economic and financial chaos that we currently face, that the democratic party would allow it in their publication unless it is consistent with their agenda.
“Bright star heralds the emergence of Maitreya the World Teacher
LONDON, January 22 /PRNewswire/ —
– Share International News Release no. 88, 22 January 2009
For over 30 years author, lecturer and artist Benjamin Creme has been preparing the way for the emergence of Maitreya the World Teacher.
On 12 December 2008 Share International distributed a news release announcing that in the very near future a large, bright star will appear in the sky visible throughout the world, night and day. Around a week later Maitreya will give his first interview on major US television.
Since early January 2009 sightings of the star have been reported from Norway, South Africa, the United States, Dubai and Qatar. More and more sightings are now expected. Reports have already appeared in Norwegian newspapers.
A new article by Benjamin Creme’s Master, who is based in the Himalayas, reveals how close we are to witnessing this sign and the historic events which will follow. Maitreya’s first interview will lead to further and more frequent interviews in the USA, Japan and other countries.
Maitreya’s first interview
In the very near future, people everywhere will have the opportunity to witness an extraordinary and significant sign, the like of which has been manifested only once before, at the birth of Jesus. Then, according to Christian teaching, a star appeared in the heavens and led three wise men from the East to the birthplace of Jesus. Soon, once again, a star-like luminary of brilliant power will be seen around the world. What does this mean? How is it possible?
The answer lies in the fact that this mysterious event is a sign, and heralds the beginning of Maitreya’s open mission. Soon after the sign appears in our skies, Maitreya will give His first media interview on American television.
On that open, public occasion, still unannounced as Maitreya, the World Teacher will present His views on the economic and financial chaos which now grips the world. He will explain its origins and final outcome, and present, to some extent, His recipe for amelioration of the present heavy burden on the poor of the world. Thus He will prepare the way for a more detailed and specific announcement of His ideas.
How will viewers respond? They will not know His background or status. Will they listen to and consider His words? It is too soon to know exactly but the following may be said: never before will they have seen or heard Maitreya speak. Nor, while listening, will they have experienced His unique energy, heart to heart. Also, this is a unique time in history with whole nations stunned and apprehensive for the future. Therefore it can be assumed that many who hear His words will be open and eager to hear more. It is not for nothing that Maitreya has waited patiently for this moment to enter the public world; America, for one, would not have responded sooner. Now, for the first time in many years, a new Administration has to cope with financial chaos, unemployment and social unrest on a massive scale. The moment of truth for America and the world has arrived.
Not alone in America but worldwide, people are awakening to the need for and the possibility of change. The politicians and economists call the present situation a ‘downturn’ and a ‘recession’. In truth, we are witnessing the last stumbling steps of the old order. Millions are becoming aware that unbridled competition and greed are not the safest path for men, that such materialistic doctrines create a ‘slippery slope’ for the unwary, and, eventually, the international crisis we have today.
Of course, many people of burgeoning wealth stand clear of the present loss of confidence in the ways which have made them rich, and think it only ‘a matter of time’ until we are back on course and thriving again.
Will they heed Maitreya and recognize the sense of His argument? Lost in their arrogance and self-esteem, possibly not. However, many are less sanguine about a return to the status quo. Many have suffered painful losses and have lost faith in the old methods. The peoples of the nations are ripe and ready for change. They call out for change and a more meaningful life. Maitreya will remind men of the essentials without which there is no future for man: Justice and Peace. And the only way to both is through sharing.”
The Nation Magazine provided a toll free number that people can call to get additional information about the emergeance of Lord Maitreya. 1-888-877-8272 (For those who want to hear the message but don’t want to have your phone number tracked, click on the audio button above)
So who is Maitreya?
Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pāli) is a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita Bodhisattva.
Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor of the historic Śākyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna) and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an actual event that will take place in the distant future.
Share International, which equates Maitreya with the prophesied figures of multiple religious traditions, claims that he is already present in the world, but is preparing to make an open declaration of his presence in the near future. They claim that he is here to inspire mankind to create a new era based on sharing and justice.
We live in very strange times. Why are politicians being referred to as Messiahs and why are political parties now beginning to promote the emergence of religious teachers, leaders and Messiahs?
Could it be that we have reached the pivotal time in the history of the world when it will finally become obvious that Government IS a false religion?
Thats right, government is a religion. Think about it, if government can dictate to you whether you can speak about Jesus Christ in a public place and if you are willing to give them that power over you and obey them, then they are dictating to you how you practice your religion, and you are giving them power and authority over and above the God that you supposedly worship.
As Verlan H. Anderson points out in his book “The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil”, the interlocking governments that rule this world are the Great and Abominable Church of the Devil.
And they use fiat currencies and false economies to control , manipulate and enslave the inhabitants of the world.
Yes, there is a sinister combination of secret organizations in the background that control the governments of the world, and there is a specific secret organization that controls all other secret organizations which is clearly identified in the Book of Mormon.
We will discuss that topic in another article, however today, I want to focus on the topic of “discerning the spirits” because the current and future showcasing of the emergence of Lord Maitreya and other false teachers and false Messiahs by the political and governmental Gods that our Idolatrous society has come to worship and put our faith in is a sign of the times and we need to be spiritually prepared to discern the false spirits that are being unleashed upon the earth.
Maitreya is just one of many false spirits that is about be be unleashed on this unsuspecting generation. This is one more sign that the Marvelous Work and a Wonder is about to come forth!
As time goes on it will become more apparent to those who have the spirit of watching and the spirit of discernment that the political financial and religious events of this day are all merged together.
The perceived need for a Maitreya type messianic teacher in the eyes of the masses has been set up by the global financial meltdown that we are currently experiencing.
We don’t need to wait for the meltdown of the global financial system, it has already taken place.
Rep. Kanjorski broke the code of silence among politicians and explained in vivid detail what happened in September of this year.
There was an electronic run on the banks in which $550 Billion Disappeared in one hour. He admitted that if they had not shut the system down and guaranteed up to $250,000 per account, they project that 5 1/2 Trillion would have been withdrawn by 4:00 that day resulting in the complete decimation of the global economy.
The American and global Economies are currently being artificially propped up. When the plug is finally pulled, the degree of fear, panic and utter chaos that will sweep across the world is beyond words. Surely the masses will embrace any Messianic figure who appears to have the solution to the problems the world faces.
Click Here to see the interview
Concerning prophecy and religious deception, the Bible warns: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
With that introduction, I want to provide a profound article that was published in the Times and Seasons by Joseph Smith entitled “Try the Spirits”. It is my hope and prayer that this information contained within this article will inspire you to prepare yourself to be able to discern the spirits.
Try the Spirits
Recent occurrences that have transpired amongst us render it an imperative duty devolving upon me to say something in relation to the spirits by which men are actuated. It is evident from the apostle’s writings that many false spirits existed in their day, and have “gone forth into the world,” and that it needed intelligence which God alone could impart to detect false spirits, and to prove what spirits were of God. The world in general have been grossly ignorant in regard to this one thing, and why should they be otherwise. “For no man knows the things of God, but by the spirit of God.” The Egyptians were not able to discover the difference between the miracles of Moses and those of the magicians until they came to be tested together; and if Moses had not appeared in their midst they would unquestionably have thought that the miracles of the magicians were performed through the mighty power of God; for they were great miracles that were performed by them: a supernatural agency was developed; and great power manifested.
The witch of Endor is no less singular a personage; clothed with a powerful agency she raised the prophet Samuel from his grave, and he appeared before the astonished king and revealed unto him his future destiny. Who is to tell whether this woman is of God, and a righteous woman? Or whether the power she possessed was of the devil, and her a witch as represented by the bible? It is easy for us to say now; but if we had lived in her day, which of us could have unraveled the mystery?
It would have been equally as difficult for us to tell by what spirit the prophets prophesied, or by what power the apostles spoke, and worked miracles. Who could have told whether the power of Simon, the sorcerer was of God, or of the devil? There always did in every age seem to be a lack of intelligence pertaining to this subject. Spirits of all kinds have been manifested, in every age and almost amongst all people; if we go among the Pagans they have their spirits, the Mahomedans, the Jews, the Christians, the Indians; all have their spirits, all have a supernatural agency; and all contend that their spirits are of God. Who shall solve the mystery? “Try the spirits,” says John, but who is to do it? The learned, the eloquent, the philosopher, the sage, the divine, all are ignorant. The Heathens will boast of their Gods, and of the great things that have been unfolded by their oracles. The Mussulman will boast of his Koran and of the divine communications that his progenitors have received, and are receiving. The Jews have had numerous instances both ancient and modern among them of men who have professed to be inspired and sent to bring about great events, and the Christian world has not been slow in making up the number.
“Try the spirits;” but what by? Are we to try them by the creeds of men? What preposterous folly, what sheer ignorance, what madness. Try the motions and actions of an eternal being, (for I contend that all spirits are such,) by a thing that was conceived in ignorance, and brought forth in folly. – a cobweb of yesterday. Angels would hide their faces, and devils would be ashamed and insulted and would say, “Paul we know, and Jesus we know, but who are ye.” Let each man or society make a creed and try evil spirits by it and the devil would shake his sides, it is all that he would ask. All that he would desire. Yet many of them do this and hence “many spirits are abroad in the world.”
One great evil is that men are ignorant of the nature of spirits; their power, laws, government, intelligence &c., and imagine that when there is any thing like power, revelation, or vision manifested that it must be of God: – hence the Methodists, Presbyterians, and others frequently possess a spirit that will cause them to lay down, and during its operation animation is frequently entirely suspended; they consider it to be the power of God, and a glorious manifestation from God, – a manifestation of what? – is there any intelligence communicated? Are the curtains of heaven withdrawn, or the purposes of God developed? Have they seen and conversed with an angel; or have the glories of futurity burst upon their view? No! But their body has been inanimate, the operation of their spirit suspended, and all the intelligence that can be obtained from them when they arise, is a shout of glory, or hallelujah, or some incoherent expression; but they have had “the power.”
The Shaker will whirl around on his heel impelled by a supernatural agency, or spirit, and think that he is governed by the spirit of God: and the Jumper will jump, and enter into all kinds of extravagancies, a Primitive Methodist will shout under the influence of that spirit, until he will rend the heavens with his cries; while the Quakers, (or Friends) moved as they think by the spirit of God, will sit still and say nothing. Is God the author of all this? If not of all of it, which does he recognize?
Surely such a heterogeneous mass of confusion never can enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Every one of these professes to be competent to try his neighbor’s spirit, but no one can try his own, and what is the reason? Because they have not a key to unlock, no rule wherewith to measure, and no criterion whereby they can test it; could any one tell the length, breadth, or height of a building without a rule? Test the quality of metals without a criterion, or point out the movements of the planetary system without a knowledge of astronomy? Certainly not: and if such ignorance as this is manifested about a spirit of this kind who can describe an angel of light, if Satan should appear as one in glory? Who can tell his color, his signs, his appearance, his glory?
Or what is the manner of his manifestation? Who can detect the spirit of the French Prophets, with their revelations, and visions, and power, and manifestations? Or who can point out the spirit of the Irvingites with their apostles, and prophets, and visions, and tongues, and interpretations, &c. &c.; or who can drag into day-light and develop the hidden mysteries of the false spirits that so frequently are made manifest among the Latter-Day Saints? We answer that no man can do this without the Priesthood, and having a knowledge of the laws by which spirits are governed; for as, “no man knows the things of God but by the spirit of God,” so no man knows the spirit of the devil and his power and influence but by possessing intelligence which is more than human.
And having unfolded through the medium of the Priesthood the mysterious operations of his devices: without knowing the angelic form, the sanctified look, and gesture, and the zeal that is frequently manifested by him for the glory of God: – together with the prophetic spirit, the gracious influence, the godly appearance, and the holy garb which is so characteristic of his proceedings, and his mysterious windings. A man must have the discerning of spirits, before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors: for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit, when they think they have the spirit of God.
Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power, and baneful effects: long pilgrimages have been undertaken, penances endure, and pain, misery, and ruin have followed in their train; nations have been convulsed, kingdoms overthrown, provinces laid waste, and blood, carnage, and desolation are the habiliments in which it has been clothed. The Turks, the Hindus, the Jews, the Christians, the Indians, in fact all nations have been deceived, imposed upon and injured through the mischievous effects of false spirits.
As we have noticed before, the great difficulty lays in the ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the spirit of God, to know the things of God, and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person, or persons, have a communication or revelation from God, unfolding to them the operation of spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these principles: – for I contend that if one man cannot understand these things but by the spirit of God, ten thousand men cannot; it is alike out of the reach of the wisdom of the learned, the tongue of the eloquent, and the power of the mighty. And we shall at last have to come to this conclusion, whatever we may think of revelation, that without it we can neither know, nor understand any thing of God, or the devil; and however unwilling the world may be to acknowledge this principle, it is evident from the multifarious creeds and notions concerning this matter, that they understand nothing of this principle, and it is equally as plain that without a divine communication they must remain in ignorance.
The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God they considered to be false prophets; and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and they had to hide themselves “in deserts, and dens, and caves of the earth;” and although the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds; whilst they cherished, honored, and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, imposters and the basest of men.A man must have the discerning of spirits as we before stated to understand these things, and how is he to obtain this gift if there are no gifts of the spirit? And how can these gifts be obtained without revelation? – “Christ ascended into heaven and gave gifts to men, . . . “and he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” And how were apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists chosen? By “prophecy (revelation) and by laying on of hands:” – by a divine communication, and a divinely appointed ordinance – through the medium of the priesthood, organized according to the order of God, by divine appointment.
The apostles in ancient times held the keys of this priesthood – of the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and consequently were enabled to unlock, and unravel all things pertaining to the government of the church, the welfare of society, the future destiny of men, and the agency, power, and influence of spirits; for they could control them at pleasure, bid them depart in the name of Jesus, and detect their mischievous and mysterious operations when trying to palm themselves upon the church in a religious garb, and militate against the interest of the church, and the spread of truth – we read that they “cast out devils in the name of Jesus,” and when a woman possessing the spirit of divination cried before Paul and Silas “these are the servants of the most high God that shew unto us the way of salvation;” they detected the spirit, and although she spake favorably of them Paul commanded the spirit to come out of her, and saved themselves from the opprobrium that might have been heaped upon their heads, through an affiance with her, in the development of her wicked principles: – which they certainly would have been charged with if they had not rebuked the evil spirit.
A power similar to this existed through the medium of the priesthood, in different ages. Moses could detect the magicians’ power and shew that he was God’s servant, he knew when he was upon the mountain (through revelation,) that Israel was engaged in idolatry; he could develope the sin of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, detect witches and wizards in their proceedings, and point out the true prophets of the Lord. Joshua knew how to detect the man who had stolen the wedge of gold and the Babylonish garment, Michaiah could point out the false spirit by which the four hundred prophets were governed; and if his advice had been taken, many lives would have been spared. 2, Chron. xviii, 18. Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and many other prophets possessed this power. Our Savior, the apostles, and even the members of the church were endowed with this gift, for says Paul 1, Cor. xii, “to one is given the gift of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues, to another the working of miracles, to another prophesy, to another the discerning of spirits,” all these proceeded from the same spirit of God, and were the gifts of God. The Ephesian church were enabled by this principle “to try those that said they were apostles, and were not and found them liars.” Rev. ii, 2.
In tracing the thing to the foundation, and looking at it philosophically we shall find a very material difference between the body and the spirit: – the body is supposed to be organized matter, and the spirit by many is thought to be immaterial, without substance. With this latter statement we should beg leave to differ – and state that spirit is a substance; that it is material, but that it is more pure, elastic, and refined matter than the body; – that it existed before the body, can exist in the body, and will exist separate from the body, when the body will be moldering in the dust; and will in the resurrection to again united with it.
Without attempting to describe this mysterious connection and the laws that govern the body and spirit of man; their relationship to each other, and the design of God in relation to the human body and spirit, I would just remark that the spirits of men are eternal, that they are governed by the same priesthood that Abraham, Melchizedec, and the apostles were; that they are organized according to that priesthood which is everlasting, “without beginning of days or end of years” – that they all move in their respective spheres, and are governed by the law of God; – that when they appear upon earth they are in a probationary state, and are preparing if righteous, for a future and a greater glory: – that the spirits of good men cannot interfere with the wicked beyond their prescribed bounds; for “Michael the archangel dared not bring a railing accusation against the devil, but said the Lord rebuke thee Satan.”It would seem also that wicked spirits have their bounds, limits, and laws by which they are governed or controlled, and know their future destiny; hence those that were in the maniac said to our Savior, “art thou come to torment us before the time:” – and when Satan presented himself before the Lord among the sons of God, he said that he came “from going to and fro in the earth, and from wandering up and down in it;” and he is emphatically called the prince of the power of the air; and it is very evident that they possess a power that none but those who have the priesthood can control, as we have before adverted to in the case of the sons of Sceva.
Having said so much upon general principles without referring to the peculiar situation, power, and influence of, the magicians of Egypt, the wizards, and witches of the Jews, the oracles of the Heathen; their necromancers, soothsayers, and astrologers; the maniacs of those possessed of devils in the apostles’ days, we will notice and try to detect (so far as we have the scriptures for our aid) some few instances of the development of false spirits in more modern times, and in this our day.
The “French Prophets,” were possessed of a spirit that deceived; they existed in Vivatis, and Dauphiny in great numbers in the year 1688, there were many boys, and girls from seven to twenty-five; they had strange fits as in tremblings, and faintings, which made them stretch out their legs and arms as in a swoon; they remained awhile in trances and coming out of them uttered all that came into their mouths. [See Buck’s Theological Dictionary.] Now God never had any prophets that acted this way; there was nothing indecorous in the proceeding of the Lord’s prophets in any age; neither had the apostles, nor prophets in the apostles’ day any thing of this kind. Paul says “ye may all prophesy one by one; – and if any thing be revealed to another let the first hold his peace, for the spirit of the prophets, is subject to the prophets,” but here we find that the prophets are subject to the spirit, and falling down have twitchings, tumblings, and faintings, through the influence of that spirit; being entirely under its control.. Paul says “let every thing be done decently and in order;” but here we find the greatest disorder and indecency in the conduct of both men, and women, as above described. The same rule would apply to the falling, twitchings swooning, shaking, and trances of many of our modern revivalists.
Joannah Southcot professed to be a prophetess and wrote a book of prophesies in 1804: she became the founder of a people that are now extant; she was to bring forth in a place appointed a son that was to be the Messiah, which thing has failed. Independent of this however, where do we read of a woman that was the founder of a church in the word of God? Paul told the women in his day “to keep silence in the church, and that if they wished to know any thing to ask their husbands at home;” he would not suffer a woman “to rule, or to usurp authority in the church;” but here we find a woman the founder of a church, the revelator and guide, the Alpha and Omega, contrary to all acknowledged rule, principle, and order.
Jemimah Wilkinson, was another prophetess that figured largely in America in the last century. She stated that she was taken sick and died, and that her soul went to heaven where it still continues. Soon after her body was reanimated with the spirit and power of Christ, upon which she set up as a public teacher and declared she had an immediate revelation. Now the scriptures positively assert that “Christ is the first fruit, afterwards those that are Christ’s at his coming; then cometh the end.” But Jemimah, according to her testimony died, and rose again before the time mentioned in the scriptures. The idea of her soul being in heaven while her body was on earth is also preposterous; when God breathed into man’s nostrils he became a living soul, before that he did not live, and when that was taken away his body died; and so did our Savior when the spirit left the body; nor did his body live until his spirit returned in the power of his resurrection: but Mrs. Wilkinson’s soul, [life] was in heaven and her body without the soul [or life] on earth, living [without the soul, or] without life.
The Irvingites, are a people that have counterfeited the truth perhaps the nearest of any of our modern sectarians; they commenced about ten years ago in the city of London in England. They have churches formed in various parts of England and Scotland and some few in Upper Canada. Mr. Irving, their founder, was a learned and talented minister of the church of Scotland; he was a great logician, and a powerful orator; but withal wild and enthusiastic in his views. Moving in the higher circles, and possessing talent and zeal, placed him in a situation to become a conspicuous character, and to raise up a society similar to that which is called after his name.
The Irvingites have apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and angels. They profess to have the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues: and in some few instances to the gift of healing.
The first prophetic spirit that was manifested was in some Miss Campbells, that Mr. Irving met with while on a journey in Scotland; they had [what is termed among their sect,] “utterances;” – which were evidently of a supernatural agency. Mr. Irving falling into the common error of considering all supernatural manifestations to be of God; took them to London with him, and introduced them into his church.
They there were honored as the prophetesses of God, and when they spoke Mr. Irving, or any of his ministers had to keep silence; they were peculiarly wrought upon before the congregation, and had strange utterances, uttered with an unnatural, shrill voice and with thrilling intonations; they frequently made use of a few broken unconnected sentences that were ambiguous, incoherent, and incomprehensible; at other times they were more clearly understood. They would frequently cry out, “There is iniquity! There is iniquity!” And Mr. Irving has been led under the influence of this charge to fall down upon his knees before the public congregation and to confess his sin, not knowing whether he had sinned, nor wherein; nor whether the thing referred to him, or somebody else. During these operation the bodies of the persons speaking were powerfully wrought upon, their countenances were distorted, they had frequent twitchings in their hands, and the whole system was powerfully convulsed at intervals; they sometimes however (it is supposed) spoke in correct tongues, and had true interpretations.
Under the influence of this spirit the church was organized by these women; apostles, prophets &c., were soon called, and a systematic order of things introduced, as above mentioned. A Mr. Baxter (afterwards one of the principal prophets) upon going into one of their meetings, says, I saw a power manifested and thought that it was the power of God, and asked that it might fall upon me; it did so and I began to prophesy. Eight or nine years ago, they had about sixty preachers going through the streets of London, testifying that London was to be the place where the ‘two witnesses,’ spoken of by John was to prophecy: that (they) ‘the church and the spirit’ were the witnesses, and that at the end of three years and a half there was to be an earthquake and great destruction, and our savior was to come.
Their apostles were collected together at the appointed time watching the event; but Jesus did not come, and the prophesy was then ambiguously explained away. They frequently had signs given them by the spirit, to prove to them that what was manifested to them should take place. Mr. Baxter related an impression that he had concerning a child. It was manifested to him that he should visit the child, and lay hands upon it, and that it should be healed: – and to prove to him that this was of God, he should meet his brother in a certain place who should speak unto him certain words; his brother addressed him precisely in the way and manner that the manifestation designated; the sign took place, – but when he laid his hands on the child it did not recover. I cannot vouch for the authority of the last statement as Mr. Baxter at that time had left the Irvingites, but it is in accordance with many of their proceedings, and the thing never has been attempted to be denied.
It may be asked where is there any thing in all this that is wrong?
1st. The church was organized by women and ‘God placed in the church first apostles, secondarily prophets;’ and not first women; but Mr. Irving placed in his church first women; secondarily apostles; and the church was founded and organized by them. A woman has no right to found or organize a church; God never sent them to do it.
2nd. Those women would speak in the midst of a meeting and rebuke Mr. Irving, or any of the church: now the scripture positively says, ‘thou shalt not rebuke an elder, but entreat him as a father;’ no only this but they frequently accused the brethren, thus placing themselves in the seat of satan who is emphatically called ‘the accuser of the brethren.’
3rd. Mr. Baxter received the spirit on asking for it without attending to the ordinances, and began to prophesy, whereas the scriptural way of attaining the gift of the Holy Ghost is by baptism, and by laying on of hands.
4th. As we have stated in regard to others the spirit of the prophets, are subject to the prophets; but those prophets were subject to the spirits; the spirit controlling their bodies at pleasure.
But it may be asked how Mr. Baxter could get a sign from a second person! To this we would answer that Mr. Baxter’s brother was under the influence of the same spirit as himself; and being subject to that spirit, he could be easily made to speak to Mr. Baxter whatever the spirit should dictate; but there was not power in the spirit to heal the child.
Again it may be asked how it was that they could speak in tongues if they were of the devil? We would answer that they could be made to speak in another tongue as well as in their own as they were under the control of that spirit, and the devil can tempt the Hottentot, the Turk, the Jew, or any other nation; and if these men were under the influence of his spirit they of course could speak Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Italian, Dutch, or any other Language that the devil knew.
Some will say ‘try the spirits’ by the word. ‘Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God.’ John IV, 2, 3. One of the Irvingites once quoted this passage whilst under the influence of a spirit, and then said, “I confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.’ And yet these prophesies failed, their Messiah did not come; and the great things spoken of by them have fallen to the ground. What is the matter here? Did not the apostle speak the truth?
Certainly he did – but he spoke to a people who were under the penalty of death, the moment they embraced Christianity; and no one without a knowledge of the fact would confess it and expose themselves to death: and this was consequently given as a criterion to the church or churches to which John wrote. But the devil on a certain occasion cried out, “I know thee who art the ‘Holy one of God’. Here was a frank acknowledgement under other circumstances, – that ‘Jesus had come in the flesh.’ On another occasion the devil said ‘Paul we know, and Jesus we know;’ of course come in the flesh. No man or sect of men without the regular constituted authorities, the priesthood and discerning of spirits can tell true, from false spirits. This power they possessed in the apostles’ day, but it has departed from the world for ages.
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have also had their false spirits; and as it is made up of all those different sects professing every variety of opinion, and having been under the influence of so many kinds of spirits, it is not to be wondered at if there should be found amongst us false spirits.
Soon after the gospel was established in Kirtland, and during the absence of the authorities of the church, many false spirits were introduced, many strange visions were seen, and wild enthusiastic notions were entertained; men run out of doors under the influence of this spirit, and some of them got upon the stumps of trees and shouted, and all kinds of extravagances were entered into by them: one man pursued a ball that he said he saw flying in the air, until he came to a precipice when he jumped into the top of a tree which saved his life, and many ridiculous things were entered into, calculated to bring disgrace upon the church of God; to cause, the spirit of God to be withdrawn; and to uproot and destroy those glorious principles which had been developed for the salvation of the human family. But when the authorities returned the spirit was made manifest, those members that were exercised with it were tried for their fellowship; and those that would not repent and forsake it were cut off.
At a subsequent period a Shaker spirit was on the point of being introduced, and at another time the Methodist and Presbyterian falling-down power; but the spirit was rebuked, and put down, and those who would not submit to rule and good order, were disfellowshipped. We have also had brethren and sisters who have had the gift of tongues falsely: they would speak in a muttering, unnatural voice, and their bodies be distorted like the Irvingites before alluded to; whereas there is nothing unnatural in the spirit of God. A circumstance of this kind took place in Upper Canada, but was rebuked by the presiding elder – another, a woman near the same place professed to have the discerning of spirits, and begun to accuse another sister of things that she was not guilty of, which she said she knew was so by the spirit, – but was afterwards proven to be false – she placed herself in the capacity of the ‘accuser of the brethren’ – and no person through the discerning of spirits can bring a charge against another, they must be proven guilty by positive evidence, or they stand clear.
There have also been ministering angels in the church which were of satan appearing as an angel of light: – A sister in the State of New York had a vision who said it was told her that if she would go to a certain place in the woods an angel would appear to her, – she went at the appointed time and saw a glorious personage descending arrayed in white, with sandy colored hair; he commenced and told her to fear God and said that her husband was called to do great things, but that he must not go more than one hundred miles from home or he would not return; whereas God had called him to go to the ends of the earth; and he has since been more than one thousand miles from home, and is yet alive. Many true things were spoken by this personage and many things that were false. – How it may be asked was this know to be a bad angel? By the color of his hair; that is one of the signs that he can be known by, and by his contradicting a former revelation.
We have also had brethren and sisters that have had written revelations, and have started forward to lead this church. Such was a young boy in Kirtland – Isaac Russell of Mo. And Gladdon Bishop, and Oliver Olney of Nauvoo. The boy is now living with his parents, who have submitted to the laws of the church Mr. Russell stayed in Far West, from whence he was to go to the Rocky mountains, led by three Nephites, but the Nephites never came and his friends forsook him all but some of his blood relations, who have since been nearly destroyed by the mob. Mr. Bishop was tried by the high council his papers examined, condemned, and burned, and he cut off from the church; he acknowledged the justice of the decision and said “that he now saw his error; for if he had have been governed by the revelations given before he might have known that no man was to write revelation for the church but Joseph Smith,” and begged to be prayed for and forgiven by the brethren. Mr. Olney has also been tried by the high council and disfellowshiped because he would not have his writings tested by the word of God; evidently proving that he loves darkness rather than light because his deeds are evil.
The Fulness of the Father
The Celestial Cloning of the Gods
by OneWhoIsWatching. www.threewatches.blogspot.com
[Editorial Note: I have been meaning to blog about this topic for sometime but have procrastinated. I hurriedly put this post together before leaving to go to Logan today. I plan on adding more to this post in the days to come. I will gladly accept any content from readers that supports this premise and would love to include it in this post. A very important foundational part of the doctrine contained herein, which explains how the male and female genders interrelate and how the man is not without the woman neither the woman without the man in the Lord, may be found in the literal interpretation of the creation story as provided in JST Genesis and related scriptures. For additional info pertaining to the doctrine of composite beings click here. As always, credible documentation to the contrary and comments from skeptics are welcome as well.]
We live in a world that instills in us a love and desire to be different. We love our uniqueness. We take great pride in our individuality… our separateness from others if you will.
We love our freedom of choice, our agency.
The world we live in is an ego driven world where the self centered natural man takes credit for his own accomplishments and covets his separateness from his fellow man and from God.
The natural man has a natural desire to excel above others. Hence we live in a world of class distinction.
We must remember however that Satan is the God of this world and everyone in it until a person repents and begins worshipping the only true God. Until we become a new creature of the Holy Ghost, we are carnal sensual and devilish creatures. The purpose of the Gospel is to bring about a mighty change wherein we become new creatures;
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2nd Cor
“For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit. 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
Hence our existence here is at best a distorted typological glimpse of the hereafter. Some speculate how life in the hereafter will be based on how life is here, yet this is not accurate.
It is therefore not surprising that the concept of sameness, equal-ness and oneness is repugnant to the natural man. It is a disconcerting thought to those who are carnal sensual and devilish.
The doctrine I want to address may well be considered a mystery in the sense that many members of the Church are not familiar with it or not very knowledgeable about it, however it is not necessarily one of the mysteries that has never been revealed by the prophets.
It is not one of the deeper mysteries which has been hid up and reserved to come forth for the first time when the marvelous work rolls forth. It is simply one of those doctrines that the masses tend to shy away from because it does not resonate with most people, in fact it can feel downright uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, I am going to show from the scriptures and from the teachings of the latter day Seer and the latter day Spokesman that;
There is only one perfection in the celestial kingdom, anything that differs from it is not perfect. When someone receives the fulness of the Father they are transformed in the express image of the Father and possess the same mind and glory as the Father.
Exalted beings in the highest glory are exactly identical to each other physically, mentally and spiritually. Their actions and thoughts are exactly the same. They even have the same mind, which is the Holy Ghost.
As a young boy in Sunday School my teachers, when speaking about the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in the grove would often hold up a picture depicting Jesus Christ as a younger man with brown hair standing next to the Father who was an older man with white hair. When I went on my mission in 1973 the missionary flip chart also showed a similar picture depicting a younger Jesus with brown hair and an elderly Father with white hair. That picture is shown below;
Years later I found it curious that the church started using different pictures of the Father and the Son showing them to be identical. I don’t know what caused them to change pictures but interestingly enough, according to the description of Joseph Smith, the Father and the Son “exactly resembled” each other.
In one of the accounts of the first vision the prophet Joseph Smith described the Father and the Son as exactly resembling each other in features and likeness;
“whose brightness and glory defy all description” and who “exactly resembled each other in features and likeness: (JS—H 1:17; Wentworth Letter, Backman, p. 169)
In another interesting account provided by the Prophet Joseph Smith, he told of seeing the Twelve Apostles after they had been glorified and he noted that;
“He saw that they all had beautiful heads of hair and all looked alike.” (Autobiography of Vilate Kimball)
Years later, Sidney Rigdon Spokesman and Joseph Smith the Seer prepared and the information contained in “Lectures on Faith” to the school of the prophets. The main purpose of Lectures on Faith is to increase faith in God, teach the deepers things about the nature and character of God and to enable those with faith to see God.
The content within the lectures teaches that Christ and all those who become perfected will be TRANSFORMED INTO THE EXPRESS IMAGE OF CHRIST AND THE FATHER AND POSSESS THE SAME MIND AND GLORY AS THE FATHER.
Lectures on Faith teaches that if you ever saw two beings that differed from each other in any way, you could know for sure that at least one of them was not a perfected being. There is only one perfection and anything that differs from that perfection is obviously not perfect.
I have provided numerous excerpts from the Lectures below;
“And he being the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fulness of the glory of the Father-possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit,”
“…The Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power and fulness: Filling all in all–the Son being filled with the fulness of the Mind, glory and power, or, in other words, the Spirit, glory and power of the Father–possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom: sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father–a Mediator for man–being filled with the fulness of the Mind of the Father, or, in other words, the Spirit of the Father: which Spirit is shed forth upon all who believe on his name and keep his commandments:
and all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ; possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all: being filled with the fulness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one.”
“Q. Do the Father and the Son possess the same mind?
A. They do
Q. Does the believer in Christ Jesus, through the gift of the Spirit, become one with the Father and the Son, as the Father and the Son are one?
A. They do. John 17: 20,21. Neither pray I for these (the apostles) alone, but for them also who shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
“..let us ask, 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? or in other words, where shall we find a saved being? for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain, without much difficulty, what all others must be, in order to be saved – they must be like that individual or they cannot be saved:
we think, that it will not be a matter of dispute, that two beings, who are unlike each other, cannot both be saved; for whatever constitutes the salvation of one, will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved: and if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be, or else not be saved.
We ask, then, where is the prototype? or where is the saved being? We conclude as to the answer of this question there will be no dispute among those who believe the bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this that he is the prototype or standard of salvation, or in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved, the answer would be, because he is a just and holy being; and if he were any thing different from what he is he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else;
for if it were possible for him to change in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitutes salvation; for salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself or one like him: Thus says John, in his first epistle, 3:2 and 3: Behold, now we are the sons of God, and it doth not appear what we shall be; but we know, that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And any man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.–Why purify himself as he is pure? because, if they do not they cannot be like him.”
“That he proposed to make them like unto himself; and he was like the Father, the great prototype of all saved beings: And for any portion of the human family to be assimulated into their likeness is to be saved; and to be unlike them is to be destroyed: and on this hinge turns the door of salvation.”
The above passages out of Lectures on Faith may seem a bit mystical and extreme. However, I would point out two things about them;
1) The principles and concepts contained in the Lectures on Faith produced results. Several accounts by and about participants of the school of the prophets used this sacred information to unlock the heavens. One of the most incredible testimonies that was recorded was that of Zebedee Coltrin who participated in the school. He was one of several people who also saw Jesus Christ and bore testimony of it. His vision took place a year after section 76 was given.
2) The other observation about the Lectures on Faith is that it is completely consistent with the New Testament! Some of these verses will be provided below.
“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what weshall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is .” 1 Jn. 3: 2
“I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me as I am one in the Father, as the Father is onein me, that we may be one. ” D&C 35: 2
The above verses in modern revelation are building upon the intercessory prayer that Christ offered in the New Testament;
” I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that theymay be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” John 17
Despite talks by modern leaders to the contrary, there is nothing wrong with worshipping Jesus Christ. He is the God that atoned for our sins and he is one with the father. The Nephites worshipped him when Christ visited them and he did not rebuke them for doing it.
There is a most interesting account in the 19th and 22nd chapters of the Book of Revelation where a personage that apparently looked exactly like Christ and spake as if he was Christ, appeared to John the Revelator to reveal things to him.
Thinking the messenger was Christ, John knelt down to worship him but was quickly rebuked by the angel who acknowledged that he was a fellow servant of John. He commanded John to worship God;
“And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage super of the lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy….
And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true… Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.”
Realizing that the plan of salvation is calculated to transform the repentant man into the exact image and likeness of Christ and his Father, and infusing us with all of their attributes, powers and former accomplishments, let us now review various aspects of the scriptures to see if perhaps there is a deeper meaning and significance to some of them.
When the Lord began speaking to the Saints through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the 1800’s the underlying theme was quite a paradigm shift to the thinking of the world.
Oneness
In one of the earlier revelations the Lord commands the Saints to be ONE;
“I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” (Section 38)
A surface interpretation of that scripture might incline someone to assume that God is simply encouraging his people to be united in a common cause and faith, however the previous statements from the Spokesman and the Seer suggest that there is a more ultimate and literal state being alluded to than just the attainment of a common cause and faith in mortality.
Equality
Again, in modern scripture, the Lord commands his people to be EQUAL.
Yes, he is referring to their current temporal condition; however, the goal of being equal temporally in this life is typological to our ultimate state of being in the eternal world.
“And behold, none are exempt from this law who belong to the church of the living God.. Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.” (Section 70)
“They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace..And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.” (Section 76)
“That you may be equal in the bonds of heavenly things, yea, and earthly things also, for the obtaining of heavenly things. For if ye are not equal in earthly things ye cannot be equal in obtaining heavenly things” (Section 78)
Celestial Imaging
Again, in light of what the Seer and the Spokesman have revealed about the literal reality of the saved person being transformed into the exact image and likeness of the Father, let us look at a few more statements in the scriptures;
“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this …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
Enticing of the Spirit- Yielding- Submission
Becoming a Prisoner of Christ
Some people speculate that in the highest glory within the Celestial Kingdom there will be differences of opinion between the various inhabitants and that there is some kind of necessity in having some type of common consent among the inhabitants before God can do his will.
The scriptures and the words of the prophets seem to challenge this notion. There cannot be any contention or disagreement among exalted and perfected beings. Indeed, the gospel of Jesus Christ is calculated to take away our imperfect individuality and take away our personal ego and personal will. All exalted beings are in perfect harmony with each other having the same mind… even the mind of the Holy Ghost.
Just as the Savior said “not my will but thine” and allowed his will to be swallowed up in the will of the father, each of us who enter into the straight gate will, through the grace of God and by the power of the holy ghost need to shed our egos and our separate will and allow our independent will to be swallowed up in the will of the father. We must use our agency to freely give up our agency;
“Yea, even so he shall be led, crucified, and slain, the flesh becoming subject even unto death, the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father.” Mosiah 15: 7
The Apostle Paul speaks of being made a minister unto the Gentiles through the mysterious grace of Christ which made him a “Prisoner of Christ”. He uses the term prisoner which is unusual because the term prisoner usually has a negative connotation to it.
Nevertheless some prisoners are taken into custody against their own will while others freely surrender themselves. Paul seems to fall into both categories. Initially it appears he was spiritually abducted long enough to have his spiritual eyes opened. After that, he freely surrendered himself to the higher authority.
“For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ” Eph 3
“but men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.
For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and putteth off the natural man and becometh a Saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” Mosiah 3
With the deeper understanding that those who achieve Godhood are transformed into the image of God and how their mind is piloted by the Holy Spirit as their ultimate guide. It becomes apparent that that agency is not an eternal entitlement but rather a temporary gift. One that brings forth the condemnation of man if not used wisely.
While it is important to exercise agency to choose light over the darkness during probation, perhaps the most important and last choice that we will use our agency to make, is to freely give up our agency and allow our will to be swallowed up in the will of the Father.
It is interesting that the Kingdom of Heaven appears to have hierarchy in relationship to the three kingdoms of glory however, within the highest kingdom there does not seem to be a traditional kingdom hierarchy with regard to knowledge and power since all of the Saints in that kingdom are made equal with Christ
“And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with him.” (Section 88)
Indeed, the oath and covenant of the priesthood informs us that all of the previous attributes, powers and accomplishments of Christ and the Father who have gone before us are inherited by everyone who becomes exalted:
“And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.” (Section 84)
From this we find that we are infused with the same glory and accomplishments of all of Christ and his Father, each of whom had inherited the same from their fathers that went before them and so on. Therefore each person that becomes exalted inherits the fulness of the attributes, power and accomplishments of all the Gods who came before them.
Satan the Great Counterfeit
It is important to realize that God allows sons of Perditions to gain temporary entrance into the pre-existent celestial realms so that he can use them to separate the various intelligences and create division and war prior to the mortal probation however it is interesting to note that they don’t enter in by the same gate that the righteous enter in. Notice the following observation by Christ;
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.” (John 10)
It is erroneous to teach that Lucifer was at one time a righteous man who became exalted through the approved plan of progression and then fell from his exaltation. He was simply a very smart and crafty individual that God allowed to climb up through the back door so that God could use him to fulfill his purposes. He functions on borrowed light for a season.
Notice the following assurance by Christ that those who enter in at the gate through Him shall never fall;
“whoso cometh in at the gate and eclimbeth up by me shall never fall” (Moses 7)
Paul warns us that Satan and his minions have the ability to transform themselves. Satan transforms himself into an angel of light from time to time. Even false apostles have the ability to transform themselves into the image of the true apostles of light. With this warning, it is almost incomprehensible that one of the foundational claims coming out of the succession crisis of the LDS restoration movement is the account of a transformation
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” 2nd Cor
Summary
To summarize, when a person accepts the fulness of the Gospel and becomes meek and submissive and childlike, willing to submit himself to the laws of God and to allow his self will to be swallowed up in the will of the Father, he will receive the baptism of fire which will make a new creature out of him.
This prepares him to receive of the fulness of the Father and to be transformed into the express image of the father, possessing the same mind and glory as the Father.
Why is this important to understand?
Because we have been commanded to seek the face of God and to truly know him. We have been commanded to gain a better understanding of the nature and character of God. We have been commanded to understand who and what we worship;
“And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son. And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him. And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fulness of the record of John.
I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.
For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorfied in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace. And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; D&C 93
Seven Shepherds and an Angel
Seven Shepherds and an Angel
By OneWhoIsWatching www.threewatches.blogspot.com
There are numerous channels by which personal revelation comes to each of us.
When studying and searching the scriptures, my wife provides one of these conduits for me.
She brings many things to my attention that I don’t catch… possibly this is because of her simple childlike faith and unassuming nature. It is probably also because she doesn’t allow preconceived notions to color her view of the scriptures. Of course the main reason is that she has been blessed with a spiritual gift in this area.
I will sometimes share a principle or some knowledge with her and then she will turn around at a later time and show me how to use that knowledge as a key to unlock additional knowledge. I sometimes refer to her as a Sibyl. (“…women of antiquity reputed to posses powers of prophecy or divination… a female prophet…”)
While studying prophecy years ago I showed her Rev 12:14 and told her that some prophecy scholars believed that the word “time” = “one year”, the word “times” = “two years” and the phrase “half a time” = ½ year” hence, the Church would be nourished for 3 ½ years at some point in time:
“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
She quietly cataloged that information. It would come up many years later in a scripture study.
Fast forward several years later…. we were studying Micah and noticing how he refers to the Seven Shepherds that are upon the earth at the time that invading armies come into the latter day land of Israel. This is also the general time period when the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles and among many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest to tread them down.
We wondered if these seven shepherds were the same seven servants of God mentioned in the 3rd and 4th chapter of Zechariah which are referred to as the seven eyes of the Lord who run to and fro in the whole earth.
We also wondered if these seven Shepherds that acted as the eyes of the Lord running to and fro in all the world could be the seven angels which had the seven trumpets and prepared themselves to sound in Rev 8 and/or the seven thunders that uttered their voices in Rev 10 or the seven angels having the seven last plagues that bring judgment upon the whore in Rev 15, 16 & 17 etc.
We could not help but wonder if these seven angelic beings lived on this earth in mortality prior to their missions in the last generation… in the 3rd Watch….And if so, is it possible that they had been part of the LDS restoration movement?
Possibly they were the first laborers in the last kingdom that lived during the Kirtland, Jackson County and Nauvoo eras of the Church.
We were aware of the LDS fundamentalist beliefs that there had been a secret quorum of six Apostles/High Priests functioning under the direction of Joseph Smith which makes a quorum of 7 Apostles. This cryptic Quorum was also known as the Friends of God.
This tradition, as with many corrupted legends and traditions, appears to originate from a true principle/event. It appears to come from the revelation known as section 84 of the D&C which states in the first verse:
“A revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and six elders, as they united their hearts and lifted their voices on high” (D&C 84:1)
We found it very strange that the entry of this revelation into the history of the Church and the Doctrine and Covenants did not document who the six other elders were yet it did document how many elders were present… very curious.
It seemed odd to us that such an important revelation containing very specific promises to and about these six elders who had the higher priesthood confirmed upon them by the voice of God out of heaven would not bother to document who these elders were.
We perused various historical documents attempting to verify exactly who these six elders were but it is not an easy task to get an identity of these six players.
In section 88 these six elders are referred to as the “first elders” of the Church and the “first laborers in the last kingdom”.
In section 88 the Lord commands those who are not the first elders of the Church to continue laboring in the vineyard but he promises the first elders that he will send them into the vineyard again at a later time to bind up the law, seal up the testimony and prepare the Saints for the hour of judgment which is to come.
We thought that it would be fun to search section 84 to see if this quorum of Apostles will have a role in the 3rd Watch when the dispensation of the fullness of times and the Marvelous Work are ushered in.
It is worth noting that section 88 was given several years before the quorum of the 12 Apostles were called, Joseph Smith and these six elders were referred to as apostles by the Lord. He even calls them his friends. A favored status that few people other than Abraham ever achieved in the scriptures:
“And as I said unto mine apostles, even so I say unto you, for you are mine apostles, even God’s high priests; ye are they whom my Father hath given me; ye are my friends.”
The thought that these brethren might return as a quorum to play an important role in the winding up scenes was intriguing to us.
As we poured over section 84 searching for hidden treasures of knowledge pertaining to the events of the very last days we were ecstatic when we read the incredible unconditional promise that Bishop Newel K. Whitney will return to warn the inhabitants of New York, Albany and Boston of the desolation and utter abolishment that await them if they reject the gospel.
Every time I hear of reports about nuclear suitcase bombs that have been strategically hidden in major cities like these and orchestrated terrorist attacks that are going to be taking place, I can’t help but think of this incredible promise and associated prophecy given to Bishop Whitney. He will come back and warn the people in these cities.
I think this warning must take place before major desolation takes place.
The Lord then gives an unconditional prophecy that the rest of the first Elders being spoken to in this revelation will also “go to the great and notable cities and villages reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds setting forth clearly and understandably the desolation of abomination in the last days”
And then the Lord reveals this most remarkable promise to these First Elders who are the First Laborers of the Last Kingdom:
“For with YOU saith the Lord Almighty, I will rend their kingdoms; I will not only shake the earth, but the starry heavens shall tremble..”
The Lord who knows all things and cannot lie… the Lord who has infinite foreknowledge because all time, past, present and future is continually before his eyes, promised these specific brethren that they would be the ones to return to the vineyard at the time of the last generation to shake the earth and bring down the kingdoms of the world!
While we were pondering these amazing promises and studying this section my wife and I began pondering the following verses:
“And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received. Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.”
We were aware of the several statements President Benson had made concerning the above verses and that he had inferred that the church was still under condemnation.
Dallin H. Oaks had given a talk at the Church Educational system Satellite fireside on June 1993 and had quoted President Benson regarding these verses. He claimed that President Benson had declared that the Saints had brought the whole Church under condemnation and that it was still under condemnation:
” President Benson had been stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon. Repeatedly he had quoted these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lord’s statement that the Saints’ conduct had “brought the whole church under condemnation” (D&C 84:55). In that temple meeting, President Benson reread those statements and declared, “This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be until we repent.”
As we pondered the verses in section 84, it occurred to me that a the word of God was not saying that the conduct of all of the Saints in the Church had brought the whole church under condemnation, but rather God was saying it was the unbelief and vanity of those specific Apostles that had brought the whole church under condemnation! This revelation was being directed specifically to the first elders to whom the revelation was being given: “And YOUR minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received. Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.”
As I was making this observation, my wife was making an additional one. She said something to the effect of:
“Yes, I agree. Those specific Elders brought the Church under condemnation… And it appears that the Lord gave these specific apostles’ another revelation two years before he had given them this one. In that revelation he must have told them some things they took lightly… perhaps it was difficult for them to believe some of the things he had told them.”
I was really taken back by her observation. “How did you divine that deduction from those verses?” I asked. “What makes you think the Lord had given Joseph Smith and these six Apostles a revelation two years prior to section 84?”
“That’s what it says” she replied. “Remember how the prophetic definition of the word “times” = two years?”
I looked at the verses again in context of how the word “times” was used in Rev 12:14 and then I realized what she was seeing:
“And your minds in times past [two years ago] have been darkened because of unbelief and because you have treated lightly the things you have received. Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all.”
I was shocked at her interpretation and began chiding her: “What have you been smoking? That is a HUGE stretch… Just because the word “times” had a prophetic interpretation in the vision of St John 2,000 years ago, in the New Testament, that does not mean that the same word would have the same definition in modern revelation!”
Finally, after brow-beating her for a while I decided to really drive my point home by showing her how easy it would be to prove that there was no revelation directed through Joseph Smith to six elders two years prior to section 84.
I said to her:
“If your interpretation is correct, it would be easy to prove because such a revelation would be important enough to canonize in the Doctrine and Covenants. Such a revelation would clearly be directed to Joseph Smith and six elders just as section 84 was, and it would undoubtedly contain prophetic information about their ministry”
I then went to the beginning of section 84 to verify what month and year the revelation was given. It was given in September of 1832. I then turned to the beginning of the Doctrine and Covenants to view the “Chronological Order of the Contents” section. I noticed that four revelations had been given two years prior to section 84. Section 28, 29, 30, and 31 were all given in September of 1830.
I then turned to section 28 to see if it was addressed to six elders… Just as I thought, it was given directly to Oliver Cowdery… no other elders were involved in receiving the revelation.
I then turned to section 29 and looked at the section heading. What I saw sent chills up my spine…
“Revelation through Joseph Smith Jr. in the presence of six elders”
Unbe-freakin-lieveable!
Again, the identity of these six elders is withheld… why? Why did Joseph Smith choose to withhold the identity of these chosen servants yet document the number of them that God was talking to?
I didn’t have much time for ingesting much humble pie at that moment as my wife and I were both quite anxious to devour section 29 to see what the Lord had revealed to Joseph Smith and these six elders! We were hoping that this section would reveal additional information regarding the role of these seven apostles during the 3rd Watch.
When we got to verses 7 & 8 we could hardly believe our eyes:
“And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect: for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts; Wherefore the decree hath gone forth from the Father that they shall be gathered in unto one place upon the face of the this land, to prepare their hearts and be prepared in all things against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the wicked.”
Wow…
These first laborers of the last kingdom will return to the earth as ministering angels to gather the elect to prepare them against the day when tribulation and desolation are sent forth upon the earth!
Could it possibly be that Joseph Smith and these six elders that will give the final warning, gather the elect and bring about the fall of the kingdoms of the world are the ones being referred to in Zechariah, Micah and the Book of Revelation?
Are these the ones that run to and fro in all the world as the eyes of the Lord?
Are these the Seven Shepherds that are the “peace” when God’s Promised Land is invaded by foreign armies and the remnants of the land tread down the unrepentant gentiles as a lion among sheep?
What an incredible thought, that Joseph Smith and the first elders of the Church would return to the earth to gather the elect.
Notice the promise given in Matthew 24 that before Christ returns in his glory he will send his angles to gather the elect:
“For the Son of Man shall come and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together the remainder of the his elect from the four winds and from one end of heaven to the other…” (JST Matt 1:37)
Just as Gabriel returned to the earth as a ministering angel to minister to the father of John the Baptist, just as Moses and Elijah returned to the earth to minister to Christ at the Mount of Transfiguration and just as John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John returned to the earth as ministering angels to minister to Joseph and Oliver, priesthood keys were given to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. These keys enable them and the other first laborers of the last kingdom to return to this earth to minister unto all those who are found waiting, watching and willing.
Do you believe in angels?
I do..
I am married to one.
[Editorial note: It is not uncommon for the Lord to use the key words within differing sections of the four standard works to point to each other and help those who are searching to connect the dots, particularly when both sections of scripture are speaking about the same topic. Therefore it is possible if not likely that the 3 ½ year period of time spoken of in Revelation 12 is literally or typologically related to the last gathering that is to be done by the first laborers of the last kingdom.
I want to clarify that section 84 is actually a composite of two separate revelations given on consecutive days, the 22nd and 23rd of September. On the first day there were six elders present, on the following day, it is not clear if there were additional elders that were invited to participate in the promises the Lord was making to the leading elders of the Church.
The first laborers of the last kingdom more than likely consisted of more than just those seven elders being addressed during the revelation given on the first day. Interestingly enough, it appears according to the “Historical Development of the Doctrine and Covenants by Woodford that in the original manuscript of the second part of the revelation given on the 23rd, the following phrase was included and has since been taken out:
“The 23rd day of September AD 1832 Eleven High Priests save one”.
It is not clear what this statement is referring to. It could be referring to the fact that Judas would be missing when the 12 Apostle from New Testament times return to judge Israel. Another possibility is the implication that four additional Elders were present on the 23rd bringing the total count to 11 and one member of the quorum of the 12 was not present.
There is evidence to suggest that the quorum of seven was part of a quorum of 12 Apostles that had been chosen by the Lord by 1832. This quorum appears to have more power and authority than the quorum chosen by the three witnesses. In fact at least two of the three witnesses were very likely part of the first, mystical quorum of the 12.
From historical sources it appears that there was some type of quorum of special witnesses long before the three witnesses was commanded to choose another quorum of the twelve:
“It was also announced that “twelve chosen witnesses, had been allowed to see the gold plates” (The life of David Marks, pg.340). Also, there were newspaper references from 1829-1831 to twelve apostles in Mormonism. September 1829 a Palmyra newspaper noted: “the number of the gold bible apostles is said to be complete.” (Palmyra Reflector, 23 September 1829. The issues of 19 April and 1, 22 June 1830 also make reference to Mormon apostles.)” Mormon Hierachy: Origins of Power by Quinn]
One last thing on note pertaining to section 84, in the original manuscripts of the revelation it states that John the Baptist had been baptized from the womb, not at the age of eight days. This is consistent with the various scriptures stating that he was the transmigration of Elijah the Prophet and had previously been baptized before being born into the world as John the Baptist.]
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