Here is my FB buddie's comments from an earlier piece I did. This guy had a mission prez who was totally awake. Wow - the good one man of influence can do to impressionable 19-21 year old males. I endorse everything my friend had to say below about the cleansing:
We've got to keep in mind (during general conference) things that they ARE saying, but also things that they're NOT saying ANYMORE. Such as food storage. They haven't mentioned the word "food storage" once since April 2007. They used to do it all the time. But its like a water faucet was turned off. You won't hear it this April, either. Why? Not because we've all been obedient and have at least a year supply. Heck no. And, not because that instruction isn't relevant anymore either.The majority of the Church is INCREDIBLY disobedient when it comes to following the prophets. Listen to General Conference, guys. Listen to what they say now and compare it to what they used to say about food storage, getting out of debt, getting married sooner than later, not limiting the number of children you have or when you have them, wives staying home to raise the children while husbands go out to work, embracing the Book of Mormon, etc. If they say anything at all about that stuff, its extremely watered down (excluding food storage, because they just don't talk about that anymore). WHY???The prophets and God HAVEN'T failed us, we've failed them. God will only give us what we're willing and able to accept, and we've rejected all of that. We don't get the "greater things" delivered to us as a whole church anymore, we are only getting the lesser things."And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them." (3 Nephi 26:9)And what is watered down now will continue to get even more watered down until the church fails in its progress (Alma 4:10). And not because the watered down stuff isn't true, its because the people will (and do) reject even that. Why would God give us more when we reject even the very basics? The 3 translated Nephite disciples only remained so long with the Nephites until they were eventually taken away by the Lord because of the people's wickedness."And it came to pass that the Lamanites withdrew their design, and there was peace settled in the land; and peace did remain for the space of about four years, that there was no bloodshed. But wickedness did prevail upon the face of the whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away his beloved disciples, and the work of miracles and of healing did cease because of the iniquity of the people. And there were no gifts from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon any, because of their wickedness and unbelief.... And I did endeavor to preach unto this people, but my mouth was shut, and I was forbidden that I should preach unto them; for behold they had wilfully rebelled against their God; and the beloved disciples were taken away out of the land, because of their iniquity. But I did remain among them, but I was forbidden to preach unto them, because of the hardness of their hearts; and because of the hardness of their hearts the land was cursed for their sake." (Mormon 1:12-14,16-17)There are many in the Church today who think, "No, not us. This won't happen to us." That's the same thinking of those who lived in Jericho, "No, not our walls. Our walls are too high, too strong." That's called arrogance. That's called pride. But remember this: Pride comes before the fall, even in the church in the land of Zion.The Book of Mormon states in 6 different places that not even a hundredth part of things could be written... the writers knew they had limited space, and all of that was written was written by commandment. Out of ALL the stuff that they could have talked about, they were commanded to show us the FALL of the 2 greatest civilizations on this continent (the land of Zion), who also had Prophets and the church. NOTHING makes us any different. If we keep the commandments (which we have not, as a whole), we will prosper in the land. If we do not (and that includes the preponderance of the church now-a-days), we will not prosper in the land and will come under bondage and warfare.That's why the church HAS TO and WILL be cleansed, to get the "false swearers" (Mal 3:5) out and keep the "more righteous part" (3 Nephi 10:12). And even then, Christ will chastise with love those who remain and say to them, "O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (3 Nephi 9:13).Guys, there will be a systematic cleansing. We've been warned about it since the church was restored. We've seen patterns of it in the Book of Mormon. People who have the Spirit of prophecy and revelation (and we can all have that same Spirit, namely the Holy Ghost) have their eyes opened so they can see and understand what God is up to. They can see and understand the writing on the wall.To see the order of the systematic cleansing, look at 3 Nephi 6-8. There are 3 "breakups".Breakup 1: The church. This is the cleansing of the church, not the demise of it, as you'll read about. This is the removal of the cancer that held them back, as it does us today. This is the removal of "Achan", the one man who's sin affected the whole house of Israel. This is the removal of the "false swearers" who "mock God" and pollute the church of God. This all happened of necessity, and will happen again in our day.Breakup 2: The government and economy. Their government was completely and utterly overthrown, and was never re-established. It was completely destroyed. The people separated into tribes of families and friends.* Note that breakups #1 and #2 happen in the SAME YEAR. Then a few years later, #3 happens.Breakup 3: The land. Earthquakes and tempests, etc. Entire notable cities were destroyed by fire (wonder what caused that!), whirlwinds, earthquakes. Some were sunk. Some were buried. The scale of environmental destruction and change caused the people to marvel.As President Ezra Taft Benson said during the 1987 General Conference as Prophet, Seer and Revelator, "The record of the Nephite history just prior to the Savior’s visit reveals many parallels to our own day as we anticipate the Savior’s second coming. The Nephite civilization had reached great heights. They were prosperous and industrious. They had built many cities with great highways connecting them. They engaged in shipping and trade. They built temples and palaces."Read the rest of that talk here: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1987/04/the- saviors-visit-to-america?lang= eng * Notice the order of the cleansing. Starts with the church, then the government, then the land. That is in perfect symmetrical reflection of the order of the establishments. First, this pristine land was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus who was inspired by the Holy Ghost. Then, years later, an inspired government was established. Then, just a few short years later, the Church was established.It's amazing to see the symmetry!First...Land settled -> government established -> church restoredThen...Church cleansed -> government removed -> land wiped cleanTHEN........ after these things... Christ "suddenly comes to his temple". So what are we preparing for? We should be preparing for the cleansing of the Church by getting our hearts off of Babylon and on to Zion. We should be preparing for the removal of the government and the social chaos that will come with it. We should be preparing for the environmental cataclysms that are coming. Then we should get ready for Christ to suddenly come to his temple, which has yet to be built (the New Jerusalem Temple in Jackson County).
Thank you for this post, it fits what I have been thinking lately. At our stake conference two weeks ago we were counseled to be more obedient, specifically by keeping the Sabbath day holy. That hit me between the eyes, then to read this, yikes, I have a lot of work to do. Thanks again for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWe all talk about food storage, that is a good start. The actual commandment is Provident Living. Food storage is just a small part of it. After your food stores are gone, then what. From what I can gather, when we cannot buy or grow food for a year or so, food storage will get us through. However, Provident Living is about a self sustaining lifestyle that is not dependent on Wal Mart etc. Can you provide for yourself and you family for years on end. Do you possess the skills to garden, provide milk, meat, eggs etc? for an extended period of time. The prophecy is we WILL have to provide all these things if we are to survive the Day of the Lord. The way I see it, food storage is just a stepping stone to self reliance in all your food needs. Wade
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more! The whole of the church has been warned and forewarned time and again...has it been easy to leave a life of ease and comfort so we could learn the skills we would need before they were obligated? No. Has it been worth it? Most of the time I'm able to put off the natural man and say yes.
DeleteIf you want to know the truth of the matter you should read D&C 124, and you'll find out that we've been trying to play catch-up ever since.
ReplyDeleteForget all the excuses and all the justifications that were ever made, and remember that:
24 ¶ The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
(Old Testament | Isaiah 14:24)
God doesn't change His mind or how could we ever trust Him. I trust in the arm of God, I do not follow the arm of flesh, because:
34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.
(Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 4:34)