Psalm 139

1 O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

The Breath of Life

Short and sweet this morning, though I may revisit this topic at a later date. So many things in the temporal world are so deeply analogous to things of the Spirit.

Coming out of sleep, my thoughts lingered upon the topic of breathing. It’s something that we easily take for granted. God has designed our physical bodies to automatically perform that process when the body’s pH reaches the edges of a very narrow window of optimum values. The body is, necessarily, very sensitive to fluctuations in pH. If it weren’t, death would result. And while breathing happens on its own, 24/7, there are advantages to making this process deliberate.

My life has been just a tad overwhelming lately, and I am so grateful for the constant interaction that God graciously allows us to have with him throughout the day. But, this morning, I woke up extremely grateful for my morning study/prayer time. It’s my time to slowly, deeply, and deliberately “breathe”—to exhale what is detrimental to me and to inhale what is beneficial to me in the form of ideas, beliefs, and goals, and in my understanding of God and his character.

The deeper I breathe, the more I feel life.

The Fulness of My Gospel—Part III

OK, I lied.

Well, sort of.

I said at the end of my last post that the “fulness of the gospel” is found all over scripture. That part is true. I also said that this post would focus on that topic, but it won’t. It will lightly touch upon the subject, but it won’t be the focus, and it definitely will not make a serious study of all of the places where “the fulness of the gospel” is found in scripture. And this is one of those times when I have to say, “Sorry, not sorry.” God has to teach me so many things and take me down so many paths before one concept comes together, and I often don’t know how to share those concepts with others without taking them along for the ride. But there is value in the ride, so don’t feel bad if you have been buckled in so far and feel jilted. I don’t know that I can take you to the final destination of what “the fulness of the gospel” is, but anyone reading this would do well to get out of the car and walk the rest of the way. We will see how close we can get in the meantime.

Before we start discussing the “fulness of the gospel,” let’s establish what “the gospel” is.

GOS'PEL, n. [L. evangelium, a good or joyful message.]

The history of the birth, life, actions, death, resurrection, ascension and doctrines of Jesus Christ; or a revelation of the grace of God to fallen man through a mediator, including the character, actions, and doctrines of Christ, with the whole scheme of salvation, as revealed by Christ and his apostles.

I appreciate Noah Webster’s definition of “gospel” and ones like it. Most definitions will include the happenings of Christ’s life and his teachings, but only some will include the purpose behind them. Webster says that the gospel comes “with the whole scheme of salvation.” A “scheme” is a plan—a design, and my personal opinion is that if you do not understand “the whole scheme of salvation,” the life and teachings of Christ can be misrepresented and/or misunderstood and, ultimately, be of far less consequence than what they were meant to be.

So, we are going to take a slight detour now. Actually, this post is likely to take a few little detours. My brain has taken several in coming up with this post, so neither I nor the reader should be surprised if what I write follows suit.

There are a few places in scripture where the Lord clearly defines things. They are “this is...” statements. I love these so much! Here’s one:

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1)

God’s work—his “scheme”—is to bring about the salvation of man, which is to save man from physical death (the separation of one’s spirit from the mortal body) and from spiritual death (the separation of one’s spirit from God, which is eternal in nature).

The fall of Adam causes all men to experience death.

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2)

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. (1 Corinthians 15:22)

 

22 Now Alma said unto him: This is the thing which I was about to explain. Now we see that Adam did fall by the partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people.

23 And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: If thou eat thou shalt surely die.

24 And we see that death comes upon mankind, yea, the death which has been spoken of by Amulek, which is the temporal death; nevertheless there was a space granted unto man in which he might repent; therefore this life became a probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God; a time to prepare for that endless state which has been spoken of by us, which is after the resurrection of the dead. (Alma 12)

The atonement of Christ causes death and hell to deliver up their dead to be judged.

10 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.

11 And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.

12 And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.

13 O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.

14 Wherefore, we shall have a perfect knowledge of all our guilt, and our uncleanness, and our nakedness; and the righteous shall have a perfect knowledge of their enjoyment, and their righteousness, being clothed with purity, yea, even with the robe of righteousness.

15 And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God. (2 Nephi 9)

Christ makes this clear in another “this is” passage of scripture:

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. (3 Nephi 27)

I want to pause here at the end of verse 15 because it marks a point at which Christ fulfills one part of his work and mission. What is his gospel? What are the glad tidings? Well, for starters, it is defined by the will of his Father, and we have already established that God’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Christ’s atonement facilitates that. His being “lifted up on the cross” causes all men to be “lifted up” by the Father “that they may be judged according to their works.”

However, it is critically important to note that Christ, alone, cannot bring about the Father’s work. Because men are “judged according to their works,” the agency of men in their natural state causes them to be enemies to God.

19 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)

3 For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was the cause of all mankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil.

4 Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state.

5 But remember that he that persists in his own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. (Mosiah 16)

And so we see that God’s work and glory cannot be brought to pass without man, also, subjecting himself to the Father’s will. Knowing this, we can go back to Christ’s words in 3 Nephi 27 and understand why he continues expounding his gospel: 

16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.

17 And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father.

18 And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words.

19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.

20 Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

22 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day. (3 Nephi 27)

The gospel—“the whole scheme of salvation”—cannot do what it was designed to do without the willingness—the submission—of man to the will of the Father. Christ’s atonement notwithstanding, God cannot force man to comply with the requirements for eternal life.

I won’t go into this in great detail here, but verses 16-20 reiterate the doctrine of Christ found in 2 Nephi 31-32 and 3 Nephi 11:32-35. A “doctrine” is a teaching, and those passages of scripture are “this is my doctrine” passages. The effects of the atonement of Jesus Christ require us to apply the doctrine of Christ in order for the Father’s will to come to pass. We are, therefore, commanded to exercise faith, to repent, to be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, and to endure to the end.

Varying levels of righteousness in men cause the Father’s will to be carried out to different degrees in this life. This is why Jesus spoke of many “mansions”:

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

What level of righteousness would be required before a man could honestly expect “salvation?” Does “salvation” exist by degrees? It would be a desperate attempt to soothe one’s conscience to believe so, but it just isn’t the case.

From Lecture Seven of the Lectures on Faith:

As all the visible creation is an effect of faith, so is salvation, also. (We mean salvation in its most extensive latitude of interpretation, whether it is temporal or spiritual) In order to have this subject clearly set before the mind, let us ask what situation must a person be in, in order to be saved? or what is the difference between a saved man and one who is not saved? We answer from what we have before seen of the heavenly worlds, they must be persons who can work by faith, and who are able, by faith to be ministering spirits to them who shall be heirs of salvation. And they must have faith to enable them to act in the presence of the Lord, otherwise they cannot be saved. And what constitutes the real difference between a saved person and one not saved, is the difference in the degree of their faith: one's faith has become perfect enough to lay hold upon eternal life, and the other's has not. But to be a little more particular, 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, 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.

To be saved is to be exactly like Christ. Only one who becomes exactly like Christ can say that they have taken advantage of “the whole scheme of salvation.” Only one who becomes exactly like Christ employs “the fulness of the gospel.”

This blogpost will seem like it is coming to an abrupt end to anyone who would be satisfied with what I have said.

For those who are not, I encourage you to study “the fulness of the gospel” in scripture. For now, I will just close with some words from King Benjamin:

4 ...My friends and my brethren, my kindred and my people, I would again call your attention, that ye may hear and understand the remainder of my words which I shall speak unto you.

5 For behold, if the knowledge of the goodness of God at this time has awakened you to a sense of your nothingness, and your worthless and fallen state—

6 I say unto you, if ye have come to a knowledge of the goodness of God, and his matchless power, and his wisdom, and his patience, and his long-suffering towards the children of men; and also, the atonement which has been prepared from the foundation of the world, that thereby salvation might come to him that should put his trust in the Lord, and should be diligent in keeping his commandments, and continue in the faith even unto the end of his life, I mean the life of the mortal body—

7 I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, even unto the end of the world.

8 And this is the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you. (Mosiah 4)

The Fulness of My Gospel—Part II

In so many places in the scriptures, there are things being said, and there are things not being said. And what’s funny is that, if you pay attention to both, you gain a greater understanding of what God is, actually, saying—of what he is trying to communicate.

There are several scriptures that demonstrate this, but, for now, let’s keep things simple and revisit D&C 35:12:

12 And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation. (D&C 35)

“The fulness of my gospel” is such an interesting phrase, don’t you think? If you pay attention to what is not being said, you realize that it’s got some specificity to it. The Lord doesn’t just say “my gospel.” He says “the fulness of my gospel,” which automatically implies that there exists something that is less than a “fulness.”

So, before we go any further, let’s define what a “fulness” is, in general.

FULL'NESS, n. [from full]

1. The state of being filled, so as to leave no part vacant.

2. The state of abounding or being in great plenty; abundance.

3. Completeness; the state of a thing in which nothing is wanted; perfection.

4. Repletion; satiety; as from intemperance.

5. Repletion of vessels; as fullness of blood.

6. Plenty; wealth; affluence.

7. Struggling perturbation; swelling; as the fullness of the heart.

8. Largeness; extent.

9. Loudness; force of sound, such as fills the ear.

Gah!! Such great definitions!!

So, we see that whatever constitutes a “fulness” won’t have anything missing. A “fulness” is complete, whole, perfect, replete, and wanting nothing. 

If we are to do “good,” we must receive “his gospel” in its entirety. There cannot be any part of it that is missing. There cannot be any part of it that is unacceptable to us. Nothing about it can be wanting. It must be accepted as a complete whole. Can we receive less than a “fulness?” Yes. We just can’t claim to be doing “good” if we do.

Has the Lord told us what a fulness of his gospel entails? Yep. Speaking in the verse above, he says that he “sent [it] forth in this generation.”

It is all over scripture and will be the focus of Part III.

The Fulness of My Gospel—Part I

I was doing some reading the other day and came across the following scripture:

12 And there are none that doeth good except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel, which I have sent forth unto this generation. (D&C 35)

It struck me as one of those scriptures that comes across as very absolute. “None” is very telling. “There are none that doeth good...” Really? Yep, that’s what is says—except for one group of people. “...except those who are ready to receive the fulness of my gospel.”

Well, that might be an important thing to explore, now, wouldn’t it?

Scripture is so full of phrases like this—short little snippets of words that require so much unpacking that anyone who just glosses over the verse will never get out of them what the Lord intends for us to obtain.

My study time has been short this morning. What little time I have had has been taken up looking up things related to “the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ,” and I have so many thoughts about this topic that I think it will likely turn into a series of blogposts. But maybe not. I have a lot of other topics that I have started drafts on, too.

In any case, until I have time to put those thoughts in writing, I felt to publish this post as an invitation to anyone to research, study, and contemplate what “the fulness of [the] gospel” of Jesus Christ really is. How can one claim to be someone who does “good” if they do not receive this fulness? Are they even ready to receive? How can one receive “the fulness” if they don’t even know what it is?

So many implications. So little time.

Leaning Into Your Husband

I have been extremely blessed to have many experiences within the realm of childbirth. My own experiences have been unusually numerous by themselves, but I have also attended and assisted several other mothers during their childbirth experiences. Each and all of these experiences have taught me so much that I could write several posts on several different topics—drawing upon the lessons I learned from them. This one is forcefully at the forefront of my thoughts this morning.

It has been remarkable to me that I have never witnessed a single laboring mother blame her husband for what she was presently going through. That stereotypical (but, bitter) “you-did-this-to-me” attitude? Yeah, I’ve never seen it. Not to say that it doesn’t happen. I just find it interesting that I haven’t seen it. But, then, I haven’t had many experiences in which the husband and wife weren’t at least fairly committed to each other, either. That’s important.

What I have seen, instead, is laboring mothers lean into their husbands as contractions come upon them, and, to be honest, I have found it beautifully fascinating that they do. The truth is that their husbands did “do this to them.” Not without consent, of course. The pleasurable sexual act that results in pregnancy is often a lot more enticing and appealing than the distant and painful experience of childbirth, and women who want to be mothers are willing to endure that suffering later for the blessing of having a baby. But it still—at some level—requires the woman to have a certain degree of trust in her husband to engage in that preliminary act, and it requires at least that degree of trust to rely upon him through the experience of childbirth and beyond. 

I find it so beautiful that, while in labor and as waves of increasing pain come, a mother looks for, and turns to, the person who brought about her painful condition in the first place. She knows that no one else is as invested in what is happening to her at that moment than her husband is. She knows that no one cares more for her, or for the new life on its way, as he does. Even when there isn’t much her husband can do to alleviate the pain, the mother will reach for him to come closer and to support her. And he does. In her weakened condition, the mother will lean into her husband, and her husband will fully support her. His strength becomes her strength because of the relationship that has been built between them.

There is a reason why the husband-wife relationship is used as a metaphor for the Lord’s relationship with us. There are many, actually.

We shouldn’t expect our relationship with him to be a blissful bed of roses. Just as a sexual union leads to pregnancy and childbirth, so does our union with him lead to experiences full of suffering and affliction. We should understand that those experiences are a natural consequence of our relationship with him. We should expect them. We should anticipate them. We should see them as moments when we can lean into him, and feel his strength, and make it our own. And then we should rejoice with him when they are over.

In our suffering, why do we not rely upon the Lord as much as a laboring mother relies upon her husband? Is he not much more worthy of our trust? He is. He knows where our relationship with him will take us. He knows what we will endure when we bind ourselves to him. In his love for us, he has been made strong, and his strength is greater than our weakness. We have every reason to lean into him. 

Wilderness

I don’t really like posting thoughts that are unorganized in my brain. I have a hard enough time putting the thoughts that are organized into words. However, this topic has many applications for different people in different circumstances, and so I feel the need to ramble just a bit and hopefully any specific application can be determined by the reader.

There are many stories in the scriptures that mention a “wilderness”—they have their setting in the wilderness, or someone who comes from the wilderness, or someone who goes into the wilderness, or the concept of a wilderness. It is a fascinating theme.

In Hebrew, the word for “wilderness” is “מדבר” (meed-bar), and someone once told me that it means “the place from which God speaks.” That made sense to me because I knew that “לדבר” means “to speak” and the prefix “מ” means “from.” I suppose, in this sense, it might be more correct to say that it means “the place of speaking” and that it is implied that the greatest “speaking” you can engage in is with God. But it can also mean “that which comes from speaking,” or the place to which you go after speaking with God—the result of a conversation with God, and you can find numerous examples of both uses in the scriptures.

It is interesting to me that the idea of a “wilderness” calls to our minds a place that is uninhabited and untamed. It might appear to be disordered, but it is actually a place where you can more easily see the natural order of things. It is not a place that is desired by people who think that “civilization” is better. Only a determined few see the benefit of it and feel a pull to march into it. What is distasteful to one because it is lonely and barren is what is enticing to another because it is what connects us to the divine.

Coming closer to God doesn’t mean that you have fewer wilderness experiences. There are many times when God commands people (as a result of their close association with him) to flee into the wilderness. That’s such a funny thing, too, if you think about it. When we talk about “fleeing,” we imply that there is some danger that we will encounter if we don’t “flee.” And yet, under “normal” circumstances, who thinks that running into the wilderness is a great idea? When we don’t perceive a danger as eminent, we have time to fool ourselves into thinking that what is immediately upon us isn’t as bad as it is or that it isn’t there at all. The wilderness can look so unappealing compared to what you currently perceive that you would be willing to turn around and walk away from it, even though you know that what you would return to would eventually destroy you (like the children of Israel wanting to return to the fleshpots of Egypt.) But those who are wise understand that the wilderness is the exact place to which you must flee.

Because the wilderness can better connect us to God, it is often where one goes to receive God’s promises. The strength that you gain in braving the wilderness enables you to encounter greater trials, and many times his promises to you will strengthen you to temporarily set aside your now-prized wilderness experience to go back and endure more trials in order to help others see the benefit of their own wilderness experience (like Nephi’s return to Jerusalem to invite Ishmael’s family into the wilderness).

Wilderness experiences are necessarily (and can be deliciously) humbling. They are where you best see yourself in relationship to God. There is no pretense—no illusion that you can try to hide behind. The conversation between you and God is honest and true (held to an exact and precise standard). It is beautiful to those who desire it and desirable to those who see it as beautiful. 

“Through Faith” by Robert Smith

“Through Faith” was released a few months ago, and I have recommended it to family and friends, in person and online, but I’ve put off saying anything about it here on my blog because, every time I attempt to write something, my mind and my heart are so flooded with thoughts and feelings that it is difficult to find a starting point from which to organize them all. I will offer my apologies in advance for not even mentioning the book in the next several paragraphs. Stay with me, people. I’ll tie everything together at the end. I promise.

For as long as I can remember, I have known that God loves us—that this life has purpose and meaning, even when (and perhaps especially when) we are tempted to think otherwise. I’ve never not known it. I have always known that God is engaged in a marvelous work to help any and all who would come to him. Though I am admittedly slow at picking up on the finer details of that work, it has ever been a consuming desire of mine to be engaged in that work with him to the best of my understanding at any given point of my life. Thoughts of how to best do that race across my mind constantly. They have been the basis for every past decision in my life and every hope that I have for the future.

I think that this is why I love the Psalms so much. I’ve posted a few Psalms as blogposts in the past. I do that when I feel like the writer may as well have gazed into my soul and put on paper everything that I wish I could express as well. This morning, I read Psalm 25, and it was so identical to my own feelings that I made it my previous post. I’m not going to quote it here, but if you haven’t read it lately, you should, if only for context.

The whole chapter is a gem! It is, mostly, a prayer for the individual. When I read it, my heart is drawn out in the same prayer for myself, and I feel how much it has been all my life. But today, it was the last verse—verse 22–that got to me. Verse 22 is a prayer that is offered for all of Israel, and in reading that verse, my heart burst this morning with all of the love that I have for Israel and Israel’s role in the fulfillment of God’s work. That, too, has been something that I have felt all my life. 

And before going any further, I need to make it clear that I have in my mind a particular group of people that I believe comprises “Israel.” It’s not a political state or a group of people who have been through temple ceremonies. It is a group set apart—made (or yet to be made) holy and sanctified and prepared in every way to bear testimony of our Lord and to engage in his work. That is the Israel I love and the Israel for whom I pray as I read verse 22.

When I think of those who belong to Israel, I feel a great joy in the belief that, somewhere, there are people who feel the same way I do when they read that verse and that they are just as anxious to involve themselves in the Lord’s work as I am.

So where are they?

Mostly, they are asleep.

14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5)

There are many scriptures that deal with the themes of sleep, awakening, and rising to accomplish the day’s work. Sometime, I’ll do another blogpost on that. For now, however, I’ll leave the scripture from Ephesians as an example and attempt to tie up all of my thoughts and how they relate to the book, “Through Faith.”

In editing and recording the audiobook, I have been blessed with the opportunity to read and re-read “Through Faith” several times over. I gain so much from this process. It would take me far too long to enumerate all of the things that I have learned, so I wish to mention here the thing that stood out to me the most:

“Through Faith” (as just one of its purposes) is meant to teach “Israel” how to correctly, and in greater measure, understand and apply the process of faith to their individual circumstances, which will result in their sanctification and the fulfillment of God’s purposes.

I can see the potential in what is written in “Through Faith.” God’s servants have been misunderstanding and misapplying faith for far too long. As they become aware of what has been written in “Through Faith” and apply its teachings, “Israel” will engage in God’s work more effectively and in greater numbers. Those who already belong to Israel, but are asleep, will read this book and recognize that their righteous desires also have a righteous means of fulfillment and that it is right before them if they will let the Spirit show them the way. They will take up the whole armor of God and use the Spirit as their guide to seek after those means, as their desire for certain outcomes has been inside of them all along. Those who have always had a desire for improvement will be led to improvement that is the most lasting, the most eternal in nature, and the most satisfying to the soul.

One of my favorite quotes from the book:

Faith is the process by which potential is transformed into existence. It is the means by which the information present in the spirit is discovered and instantiated into physical reality. It is the means by which the image of God is extracted and applied to the world to yield something in greater fidelity to the creator. (p. 8)

Who can read that and not see what lies ahead for those who have faith in God? Faith is what yields everything that is good—everything that is a manifestation of God. “Through Faith” outlines the process by which those who share the same sentiment as David in writing Psalm 25 will eventually encounter the fulfillment of all of God’s promised blessings.

Print copy can be purchased here.

Free ebook can be found here.

Free audiobook can be found here.

The audio recording can also be found in a YouTube playlist here.

Psalm 25

1 Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

3 Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause.

4 Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.

5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

6 Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.

7 Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.

8 Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way.

9 The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

11 For thy name’s sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.

12 What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.

13 His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth.

14 The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

15 Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

16 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted.

17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.

18 Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins.

19 Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred.

20 O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee.

21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

Some Thoughts on Isaac

1 And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3 And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5 And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7 And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9 And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11 And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. (Genesis 22)

This story has popped into my head a lot the past few days. I’ve spent many hours pondering it.

People talk about the “Abrahamic sacrifice” and how we, in order to enjoy the blessings of Abraham, are required to make a similar sacrifice. And, in the past, I have spent plenty of time contemplating what it might have been like for Abraham to have been asked to sacrifice his son. Less so what it might have been like for Isaac, though I have thought about the obvious similarities between Isaac and Christ.

Because we speak of an “Abrahamic sacrifice,” it is natural for us to project ourselves into the role of Abraham—the person making the sacrifice. But Abraham’s role is, obviously, one of “father.” Isaac’s role is, obviously, that of a “son.” And we know that you don’t become a father without first being a son, so I have been thinking about this story from Isaac’s perspective, comparing it to my own recent life experiences, and gaining much understanding in the process.

I don’t wish to diminish the benefit of imagining ourselves as Abraham—binding up something we love and sacrificing it in obedience and submission to God. We are to love God above all else, and there is a lot we can learn from Abraham’s devoted and obedient example. However, I have realized that there is much to be gained in pondering what Isaac’s experience might have been like.

Scripture does not reveal how old Isaac was when this story takes place. Regardless of his age, it is obvious that he (1) has complete trust in his father and (2) doesn’t reach an early conclusion that he is to be his father’s sacrifice.

How unknowing and innocent Isaac was in his travels to Moriah! Leading up to this experience, he doesn’t imagine that Abraham has it in his heart to sacrifice him. It was probably near impossible for Isaac to imagine Abraham contemplating anything that might potentially harm him. Knowing how long Abraham desired a son—a righteous son—through Sarah, one can expect that he was nothing but a loving, righteous father. Abraham’s quick and exact obedience to God’s command serves only to communicate to us how much he loved God more than he loved Isaac. Isaac undoubtedly loved and obviously trusted him in return. He had no reason to disbelieve Abraham when he said, “God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering” and never suspects that it was him who had already been provided.

The scripture jumps from Abraham telling Isaac that God would provide a lamb to Abraham’s dutiful chores leading up to the expected sacrifice. We don’t know what, if anything else, was said between the two. Perhaps it was possible for Abraham to communicate his intention to Isaac with a simple expression. Or, perhaps, a gesture. Or, perhaps, just his silence.

One wonders (or doesn’t) what it must have been like for Isaac to finally realize that he was to be the lamb. What do you think Isaac might have thought as the reality of the situation dawned on him? How do you think he felt? Betrayed? Confused? Incredulous? Unloved? I suspect that he might have been tempted to feel all of these things, but I also suspect that he had felt enough love from his father before this experience to not entertain those feelings for very long. We aren’t told how much time passed between Isaac’s realization that he was to be the sacrifice and the actual sacrifice itself. Moments? Minutes? Hours, perhaps? Perhaps it didn’t take long and he helped his father ready what was needed, or perhaps he needed just a moment to contemplate what was about to take place. At some point, however, I am sure that Isaac made a conscious decision to resolve and to commit himself to being sacrificed—to let all of the unknowns be put away from his mind and to have only a steadfast trust in his father remain.

This has been, is, and ever will be the experience of a righteous “son” (or daughter, for that matter): to consent to be led by your Father to (and through) any and all experiences, sparing nothing—not even your own life.

Wholly Inadequate

While our Country remains untainted with the Principles and manners, which are now producing desolation in so many Parts of the World: while she continues Sincere and incapable of insidious and impious Policy: We shall have the Strongest Reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned Us by Providence. But should the People of America, once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another and towards foreign nations, which assumes the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing Iniquity and Extravagance; and displays in the most captivating manner the charming Pictures of Candour frankness & sincerity while it is rioting in rapine and Insolence: this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World. Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. —John Adams

I have this fascination with government. I’m not sure why. And it’s any level of government—from self-government to national government to world government. You will find government in an any organized body of people—businesses, churches, classrooms, playgroups. For that matter, the group of people doesn’t even have to be organized. Anarchy shifts the boundaries of government from groups to individuals, but it is still a form of government.

Order and structure are things that appeal to me. I like things that are sensical and optimized. One thing about bringing order and structure to anything, however, is that you need to start organizing at the most basic unit of whatever whole it is to which you wish to bring order.

You may have heard the last two lines of the quote from John Adams before (they are quoted most often), but I find the entire paragraph packed with truth. Mr. Adams knew that the government of the united States was designed in such a way that the greatness of the whole would never—could never—exceed the greatness of the individual states of which it was constituted. And each state was given the liberty to establish governments that reflected the will of the people who lived there. If any state’s governments did not reflect the ideas and character of the people, the people had the option of throwing off that government by either reforming the government of the state they were in or moving to another state. But, either way, in order to create the environment in which a person could enjoy the greatest happiness, the government needed to be a reflection of good moral character within the individual. It isn’t possible for any individual to understand, much less bring about, good results in government (or any other area of their life) that are beyond the level of goodness that they incorporate into themselves.

Can any of us honestly believe that we are a “moral and religious people?” Read the quote from Mr. Adams again and count how many mental somersaults you have to do before you answer that question in the affirmative. You won’t have to do any to answer no. We are not a “moral and religious people”—not like we would like to think we are. Christians who are, or would be, political activists should mind this for two reasons—one that is obvious now and one that will become increasingly obvious in the future.

First, trying to get people to involved in the political process is going to be completely ineffectual in restoring a moral backbone to government until you first address the lack of morals in people. Some people realize this. Many do not, but they will.

13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7)

There is a reason why the Lord’s requirements are what they are: He cannot heal the land in absence of the repentance of the people. You can try to make changes to political parties, encourage political involvement, organize protests, and even legislate yourself into an oblivion, but you will not take the dents out of what is a complete and utter train wreck until you invoke the Lord’s blessing by first doing exactly what he says in the above scripture.

Second, as this country goes through its death throes, Christians will realize more and more that their definition of repentance does not match the Lord’s definition of repentance. An accurate understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ was lost through history, and Christians, in particular, sit in a greater darkness than they realize. In large measure, any “invocation” by them will fall on deaf ears because it is not what the Lord actually requires. Though they will plead for his intervention, it will not come until they understand what the gospel of Jesus Christ actually entails, accept it for what it is, and live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God as a result.

The needed application of what Mr. Adams wrote to our current situation should be a signal of our own moral deficiency—especially to those who might entertain the idea of somehow being the salt of the earth. As it is, Christians have an incorrect understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone who recognizes that we are lacking the same aid, comfort, assistance, healing, and deliverance from God that he so mercifully promises in scripture.

Cult Mentality

Growing up in the LDS church, I came into contact with many people who thought that I was part of a cult. And they didn’t mean the white-washed definition of “religion.” They meant to use the derogatory definition—with all of its allusions to brain-washing, blind obedience, and lack of critical thinking.

When I was younger, I felt it much easier to deflect any such accusation, in part, because the church taught (or, at least, I was taught) that we were to live by the Spirit. In recent years, I have seen that teaching slowly go down the drain, only to be, sadly, replaced with the idea that we should live according to the latest press release from the First Presidency.

People I know are going to reject that notion, but, more and more, there is mounting evidence in favor of my position.

Several people I know who had, at first, decided that injecting themselves with an experimental concoction of who-knows-what might be a bad idea have now decided that it couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. Want to know what made them change their minds?

“The prophet said so.”

Their words, not mine.

This is the fullest expression of cult mentality. Anyone who does this doesn’t have much to consider in determining whether or not they would have been drinking Kool-aid with Jim Jones in the late 70s, though they will refute that with every excuse to preserve their perception of their own sanity.

Those who put such absolute trust in the leaders of the LDS church fail to recognize what the Lord has clearly laid out in scripture—Hosea 7, for example. Let those who take pride in the fact that they are of Ephraim follow its implications to their ends:

1 When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.

2 And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face.

3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.

4 They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened.

5 In the day of our king the princes have made him sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.

6 For they have made ready their heart like an oven, whiles they lie in wait: their baker sleepeth all the night; in the morning it burneth as a flaming fire.

7 They are all hot as an oven, and have devoured their judges; all their kings are fallen: there is none among them that calleth unto me.

8 Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned.

9 Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.

10 And the pride of Israel testifieth to his face: and they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him for all this.

11 Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria.

12 When they shall go, I will spread my net upon them; I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven; I will chastise them, as their congregation hath heard.

13 Woe unto them! for they have fled from me: destruction unto them! because they have transgressed against me: though I have redeemed them, yet they have spoken lies against me.

14 And they have not cried unto me with their heart, when they howled upon their beds: they assemble themselves for corn and wine, and they rebel against me.

15 Though I have bound and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief against me.

16 They return, but not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this shall be their derision in the land of Egypt. (Hosea 7)

“Glorify Your Father Which Is In Heaven”

Matthew 5:16 is a famous, often-quoted, scripture. I’m pretty sure I heard someone quote it before I read it, and because of that, I had an ill-conceived idea about its meaning. 

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 5)

What does it mean to “glorify,” and who does the “glorifying” in this verse?

Hearing this verse as a child, I picked up on the idea that “to glorify” meant “to praise” (which it does, though it is almost universally understood pretty superficially), but I failed to correctly determine who “glorifies” the Father in this verse. Somehow I got it my head that, if you “let your light so shine before men,” they (the men) would see your good works and they (the men) would glorify (or praise) the Father. 

And, perhaps, there is something to be gained from that understanding, but it wasn’t until I did a deep dive into the definition of “glorify” that this scripture took on new meaning for me—one that led to better and greater fruits in my life.

1. To praise; to magnify and honor in worship; to ascribe honor to, in thought or words.

2. To make glorious; to exalt to glory, or to celestial happiness.

3. To praise; to honor; to extol.

4. To procure honor or praise to.

Many times, looking up the definitions of the definitions can be beneficial, too. I found the definition for “magnify” to be extremely helpful.

1. To make great or greater; to increase the apparent dimensions of a body. 

2. To make great in representation; to extol; to exalt in description or praise.

3. To extol; to exalt; to elevate; to raise in estimation.

Defining these words (and noticing the commas) helped me understand that there are two separate, but related, charges in this verse. Jesus is charging his disciples to “let [their] light...shine,” and he is also charging them to “glorify [their] Father...in heaven.” And one could make a case that it is only his true disciples that are able to actually fulfill these charges.

God is difficult for us to comprehend. The entirety of his love, knowledge, wisdom, mercy, and every other aspect of his character is so far above and beyond what we naturally possess that it is impossible to recognize the difference between the two without experiencing the pain that comes with that recognition.

In his mercy, God doles out smaller, but significant, portions of his character to us by way of the many things that surround us here in the physical world. The recognition of these smaller portions of his character are less painful for us to bear. While all things testify of him and give us reason to believe in his goodness and greatness, those who recognize, seek after, and incorporate measures of this goodness into themselves become an important means by which God is able to communicate more about himself to others who would not do the same. They “magnify” God. They increase the dimensions of portions of God’s character so that his character is tolerable for others to zoom in on, and bear, and learn from, without an insufferable amount of pain. They bring more easily comprehensible measures of his goodness into the less painful view of others in order to grant them an opportunity to incorporate that goodness into themselves. They convey God’s goodness in their representation of him. 

This emulation and conveyance of God’s character is the highest form of “praise” and “worship” in which anyone can engage. What most people call “praise” and “worship” is a sorry and shameful excuse for what the Lord intends our praise and worship to be. Our praise and worship is meant to be what sets us apart from the rest of the world. It is meant to be a hallmark of the Lord’s disciples.

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. (John 14)

The atonement of Jesus Christ is what makes this emulation possible, and it is only those who submit themselves fully to him who are able to fully discover and then transmit God’s love and character to others. It is only those who believe in and assume the responsibility to increasingly become like God who can fulfill this charge from Jesus to “glorify” the Father. 

 

Psalm 40

In my morning study time, I’ll come across things that have been written and marvel at how they resonate with me. I’ll find it amazing (1) that someone seems to know my heart so well and (2) that someone can express what I feel so beautifully. Most often, it brings me to tears—not only because I am able to experience, once again, the love that the Lord has shown to me, but also because it is evidence that that love is available to all and testified of by many others.

1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.

10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: O Lord, make haste to help me.

14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified.

17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

The Doctrine of Christ—2 Nephi 32:8-9

As I share this last post on chapters 31 and 32 of 2 Nephi, I am filled with amazement and wonder at how the Lord works in the lives of those who seek after him. Everything is perfectly timed, perfectly designed, and perfectly executed to bring about our greatest happiness. Our greatest struggles are our greatest opportunities to lean on the Lord and ask him why we are going through them.

I started this blog because the Lord told me to. I was hesitant to share any of my thoughts with random and anonymous people on the internet, much less so with people I know. I am, at once, grateful that he told me to do it and embarrassed that I didn’t think to share these things with others sooner on my own.  And while I pray with every post that it will help someone—anyone—come to feel greater and greater measures of God’s love, I cannot imagine that happening to anyone more than it has happened to me. 

By the time Nephi reaches these two verses at the end of chapter 32, he has laid out, in plainness, the doctrine of Christ in chapter 31, clarified what some might misunderstand of that doctrine in the first six verses of chapter 32, and lamented—in verse seven—the fact that people (who have already “entered in by the way”) still won’t understand what he is trying to say.

Putting ourselves in Nephi’s shoes for a moment, and attempting to feel the desperation and hopelessness he might feel with the inadequacy of his written words to convince anyone of what it takes to have Christ “manifest himself unto [them] in the flesh,” we ought to pause and consider that, more often than not—almost always, in fact—people are just not going to “get it.” And, remember, Nephi isn’t talking to people who haven’t encountered the Book of Mormon or who have rejected it. He is talking to people who have “entered in by the way.” He’s talking to people who have had a remission of sins and who have started in the strait and narrow path. If we think that we are one of those people, we should be sober about whether or not we might also fall into this category of people that Nephi is so obviously concerned about. The odds are very good that we will.

To my mind, verses 8 and 9 of chapter 32 are Nephi’s last-ditch effort to try to help us advance along the strait and narrow path, even though he knows most us will not. 

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

What is “this thing” that Nephi is talking about? Many people read the last sentence of verse 8 and think that Nephi is defining what “this thing” is, but he isn’t. In that last sentence, Nephi is interrupting the flow of information to explain why he is “speak[ing] concerning this thing” and to lament that he even has to mention “this thing.” He is saying that “...if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray;” and he wouldn’t even have to mention “this thing.” But he does mention it in the next verse, which means that we don’t pray—not like we should, anyway. And so what spirit are we listening to?

“the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.”

Truth! No wonder Nephi laments.

So what is “this thing?” Continuing in verse 9:

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

Man, I love definitions! It’s interesting to me that “faint” can be read as either a verb or as an adverb in this verse—using it for contrast against either the verb “pray” or the adverb “always”—but both uses convey similar ideas. When used as an verb, “faint” means “to become feeble; to decline or fail in strength or vigor; to be weak.” It means “to sink into dejection” and “to lose courage or spirit.” It can also be read as an adverb—“weakly,” “feebly,” “languid,” “inclined to swoon,” “exhausted,” “cowardly,” “not vigorous,” “not active,” “dejected,” “depressed,” “dispirited.”

When I was much younger, I used to read these two verses and think, “Really? Nephi’s last admonition to us is just to pray?”

Which is, undoubtedly, a revelation to anyone about just how feeble and weak my prayers were. 

If you open your ears to listen, verse 9 is a reverberation of verses 14-16 of chapter 31:

14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

16 And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

Think the strait and narrow path is going to be easy and carefree? Nope. Think that you will never come to a point where you might “deny [him]?” Think again. We had better expect it to be hard. We had better expect it to bring us to the point where we, along with our prayers, are weak, feeble, exhausted, cowardly, and dispirited—where we might lack strength or vigor. And it won’t, necessarily, be because we slack in our efforts. If we are advancing along the path, it will be because what lies on the path ahead of us will require a strength in prayer that we have not previously attained.

Advancement along the path is a high stakes game. When the Son says to Nephi that, if we should deny him once we have entered in by the way, it would have been better to have not known him, he isn’t joking. It is only those who endure who are saved, and if you don’t endure, you cannot be saved. Returning to Nephi’s words in verse 9 of chapter 32, we find out exactly what is at stake: it is the welfare of our own soul.

The word “soul” evokes some deep meaning for me. It designates those parts of us that are central and eternal—everything that makes us who we are. Nephi’s last admonition to pray becomes priceless as we realize how difficult parts of the path are, how unavoidable and mandatory those parts of the path are, how much we stand to lose if we don’t traverse and endure those parts of the path, and how needful it is to draw upon the Lord for his strength, wisdom, courage, and love as we come to them.

The doctrine of Christ is strait and narrow. It is a path that requires exact obedience and total submission. It requires holding fast to the rod of iron (or God’s word) and only letting go to advance your grip—and, even then, Nephi’s counsel to us is that we not do anything at all until and unless we have prayed mightily to the Father in the name of Christ. It is only in doing “this thing” that we can be assured that everything we do will be consecrated by the Father “for the welfare of [our] soul.”

The Doctrine of Christ—2 Nephi 32:6-7 (Part II)

This blogpost has been sitting in my drafts for weeks. It is probably the most heartfelt post that I have written to date. Ironically (and very sadly), it is a post that my former self would have completely disregarded if she had read it just a few years ago. I’m ashamed to admit that, but hopefully this post will help someone value what follows now more than I would have back then.

In my last blogpost, I recounted how the Lord had given me a desire to seek a face-to-face encounter with him at a pretty young age. He renewed that desire in my adulthood with the following scripture:

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

Because of the very powerful invitation that I received in my youth to seek the Lord’s face, it was in my mind that having that experience would be the paramount experience with him. He gave me a glimpse of what it would be like, and I had never felt anything like that before. To say that my desire to “come into his presence” has been a consuming desire in my life would be a gross understatement.

And at this point, I’ll issue a spoiler alert: I haven’t yet had that type of experience with the Lord. It is something that I continue to seek, and I have every hope and every reason to expect that it will happen at some point based on my experiences thus far, but it isn’t something that I am able to give a first-hand account of at this time. It isn’t something that I wish to diminish in any way, either. I believe it’s important—necessary, even—and at some point there will be a “Part III” post to these verses, but the relationship that I have with him right now has come to mean more to me than I thought it would or could.

What does it mean to have Christ “manifest himself to you in the flesh?” Have you ever really thought about that? What does “manifest” mean? What about him would you want him to manifest to you? What about him do you think he would want to manifest to you? Whose flesh is this verse talking about? Yours or his? Is it important for him to manifest himself to you “in the flesh?” Why or why not?

The word “manifest” means “to make plain or clearly visible to the eye or understanding; to make apparent.” So, when Nephi says that Christ will manifest himself to us, what part of Christ is he talking about? Whatever part it is, it won’t be something that is plain, or clearly visible, or understood, or apparent. It will be something that is hidden from or misunderstood by us. 

In the physical realm, it is easy to understand that there are parts of us that are hidden from each other. It isn’t too long after we are born that we are clothed, and portions of our physical bodies are hidden from others with whom we have a less-than-intimate relationship. In the scriptures, “knowing” someone is a common euphemism for sexual experience because that relationship reveals more to an individual, physically, about another person than any other, less-revealing encounter does.

What relationships, in your mortal experience, mean the most to you? Are they the ones formed with another person as you pass each other in the aisle of a store? How about the ones you form with business associates? Friends? Family? Are the depth and strength of your relationships affected the most by the physical encounters that you have with people, or do the most precious relationships you have with others consist of something much more intimate than any physical relationship can produce? Without a doubt, it is the latter. And this is because we are not just physical creatures.

The singular, most important objective in this life is to “know” Christ. Our highest aspiration should be to understand and incorporate into ourselves everything about him that makes him who he is. That obviously necessitates a relationship with him that goes beyond an encounter with his physical form. His manifestation of himself to us requires us to understand all of the truth he knows, all of the desires he has, and all of the reasons why he does what he does. It requires us to comprehend his love. And, remember, anything that is “manifested” begins in a state where it is hidden, unclear, unseen, and misunderstood. We shouldn’t be so naive as to think that what we learn about his love and character will effortlessly fall into line with what we already understand about truth, light, and love. It won’t.

Because of our fallen natures, there are aspects of the Lord’s character that are necessarily hidden from and misunderstood by us. It takes our entering into a specific relationship with him to enable him to begin revealing to us those aspects of his character that we do not yet understand. He has sprinkled clues about his character throughout all of creation, but it takes a greater and greater portion of his Spirit for us to come up to the point where we correctly understand everything around us that testifies of him. Our fallen natures consign us to a starting point in life that has to undergo massive improvement before that can even begin to happen, but that is precisely the reason why God has commanded us to repent—so that he can bring about that “mighty change” in us.

What does “manifest[ing] himself unto you in the flesh” mean? Does it mean that he manifests himself to you when he is “in the flesh,” or does it mean that he manifests himself to you when you are in the flesh? What good would it do you to have him reveal his character to you when he is in the flesh as opposed to the good it would do you to have him reveal his character to you while you are in the flesh?

113 This is the end of the vision which we saw, which we were commanded to write while we were yet in the Spirit.

114 But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion;

115 Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;

116 Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;

117 To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;

118 That through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory. (D&C 76)

Having his Spirit manifest to us while we are in the flesh enables us to “bear his presence in the world of glory.” Those words are so pregnant with meaning, and they don’t have a time stamp to them. The Spirit of the Lord is gained line upon line, and anyone who seeks to acquire it in its fullness will experience incremental fulfillments of its promised result in this life. As we acquire greater and greater portions of the Spirit of the Lord, we are meant to overcome the flesh and to stand in glory (intelligence, light, truth). That process happens in this life—while we are in the flesh—and our ability to stand in greater measures of glory (intelligence, light, truth) will serve as an indication that progress is being made. The opposite is also true.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.

I used to wonder why Nephi stops so abruptly in this verse, especially when it would seem that he wants so desperately to say more, but I don’t anymore. I haven’t for several years, and I feel like my understanding of why Nephi says what he says here grows more and more each day, even though the fact that I have not had a physical encounter with the Lord stands as a stark and humbling reminder to me that my understanding is not yet where it is meant to be. This verse is such a perfectly appropriate way to draw Nephi’s message in chapters 31 and 32 to a conclusion—because it is only in applying what Nephi teaches in these chapters that one can come to the point where they don’t wonder why Nephi says what he does.

As what was previously hidden to you is made manifest, you will find it harder and harder to communicate what you learn to other people. So many things of the Spirit do not have counterparts in our mortal language, and until a person experiences those things themselves, that person will not be able to fully comprehend what any other person attempts to convey to them in our crude and inadequate language.

Which is probably the reason why Nephi goes on to conclude chapter 32 the way he does. 

The Doctrine of Christ—2 Nephi 32:6-7 (Part I)

I’ve put off writing this post for many reasons—one being the fact that it has been difficult for me to separate the truths contained in these scriptures from the context in which those truths were taught to me. The context spans decades, so it would be a long blogpost if I gave the whole backstory. Trying to think of a way to teach what I have learned without writing a novel has been a challenge. I have also put this post off because I know that I still have a lot more to learn. However, I believe that there are many people who have the same misunderstandings that I did, and so I’m going to recount a few personal experiences with the hope that doing so will clear up those misunderstandings for others.

I was blessed in so many ways in my childhood. Regarding matters of religion, I was blessed in three ways, specifically. First, I was blessed to be raised in an LDS family. That might come as somewhat of a shock to people who have heard my current opinions of the LDS church, but it is the truth. Though the paternal side of my family has a long history of church membership, the maternal side does not. My dad also went through a very long period of inactivity before he met my mom. Circumstances were such that when my mom encouraged my dad to raise a family in a god-fearing household, he returned to his LDS upbringing. I consider that a tremendous blessing.

Secondly, I grew up close to extended family members who were well-versed in LDS doctrine and scripture. My grandfather and uncle were wonderful teachers who loved the truths of the gospel, and they taught them to me whenever an opportunity presented itself, in a way that my young mind could understand. It was common for them to talk about subjects like calling and election, the second comforter, and the second anointing—to the best of their understanding, anyway.

Finally, I was blessed to grow up in (what I see as) the last few years before subjects like those I just mentioned quickly stopped being discussed openly in the LDS church. After being taught by my grandfather and uncle, the Spirit powerfully confirmed to me the realities of those concepts in a Sunday School class when I was probably about 12 or 13. I don’t remember a specific passage of scripture that we might have been studying, but I do remember the teacher saying that we are all meant to have a face-to-face experience with the Savior, and I will never forget the Spirit telling me that I was to diligently seek after that. In the years that followed, I don’t recall those ideas being taught more than rarely, and they are almost never heard of in the LDS church today.

Fast forward a few decades and I was called to be a Gospel Doctrine teacher. I started teaching when the Book of Mormon was the course of study, just as the curriculum got to 2 Nephi 31-32. I was very excited to be teaching that class. I had taught in many positions before—every auxiliary organization, in fact, and seminary, too—but I was more than excited to be teaching a class that was strictly in the scriptures and that gave me more than 24 hours to prepare the next lesson. It gave me a reason to lock myself in my room, away from my kids, and dive into some intense scripture study throughout the week.

Knowing that you always run out of time to teach everything that you could teach in almost any class setting, I made a conscious decision to rely solely on scripture for reading material. I ditched the teacher’s manual during my lesson preparation, and that was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life! That decision, alone, put me in a position to (1) study the scriptures free from any biases from the LDS church’s curriculum department and (2) actively rely on the Spirit to clear up any confusion I had when I came to passages that I didn’t understand. It even started clearing up scriptures that I thought I did understand, like this one:

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

I remember being so excited about the possibility of receiving more doctrine—more understanding. And, of course, I knew exactly when more doctrine would be given. It would be after he manifested himself in the flesh. And where can we go to find an account of Christ manifesting himself in the flesh? In 3 Nephi 11, of course, when Christ visits Nephi’s descendants.

Want to know how quickly I jumped over to 3 Nephi 11? It wasn’t part of the assigned reading material that week, but I just knew that 3 Nephi 11 was surely going to yield some very “advanced” understanding about the gospel because 2 Nephi 31 was just the basics, right? 3 Nephi 11 should give us “more doctrine” than what is found in 2 Nephi 31. That’s what verse 6, quoted above, is saying, right?

Let’s find out:

31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.

32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

41 Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.

See any new doctrine? Yeah, I didn’t either.

I had one of those “wait a minute” moments. You know, where you realize that what you understood before doesn’t reconcile to some new piece of information? Something was wrong, and so I flipped back to 2 Nephi 32 and read verse 6 again:

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

It’s fascinating how words can just jump off a page and into the forefront of your consciousness. As I read that verse again, the words “unto you” immediately required me to re-examine Nephi’s intended audience. Up until that moment, I had always assumed that Nephi’s audience was his posterity—those who would witness the resurrected Lord as recorded in 3 Nephi, but it was clear to me that Christ gave no new doctrine at that time, and so something else in my understanding had to shift.

I asked what was missing, and the Spirit bore a very clear witness that “unto you” was directed to “me”—not me, specifically, but to every reader—every one of those whom Nephi calls his “beloved brethren” in verse one. He is speaking to those who have been reborn and who can have every honest expectation that they will be taught by the Holy Ghost until Christ manifests himself to them in the flesh.

The understanding that Nephi was trying to tell the reader that an intimate encounter with Christ was the inevitable result of living according to his doctrine caused my memory to race back to my old Sunday School class and to the teachings of my grandfather and uncle. As I remembered those things, the Spirit reminded me of the invitation and responsibility I had been given to diligently seek after that encounter, and it has been something that I have diligently sought after ever since.

7 And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.

Before this experience, I had always wondered why Nephi’s change in dialogue is so abrupt in verse 7. His conversation with his audience seems to come to a very definite end. And that is because it is the end.

The phrase “endure to the end” gets tossed around a lot when we talk about Christ’s gospel, and I think that most people easily get the concept of enduring. This life, no matter how you look at it, is rough. Perseverance is the name of the game in many ways. Very few people, however, stop to really consider what the “end” is. I find that most people think that the “end” is death—the end of our mortal experience. But is that the end? Mormons aren’t given any reason to believe so. The LDS church teaches that there is progression beyond this life. Are we to believe that progression comes without adversity or opposition? To me, that flies in the face of reason, and so death cannot be called the “end.”

It has helped me to discover some of the definitions of “end.” Pay close attention to #15.

1. The extreme point of a line, or of anything that has more length than breadth; as the end of a house; the end of a table; the end of a finger; the end of a chain or rope. When bodies or figures have equal dimensions, or equal length and breadth, the extremities are called sides.

2. The extremity or last part, in general; the close or conclusion, applied to time.

3. The conclusion or cessation of an action.

4. The close or conclusion; as the end of a chapter.

5. Ultimate state or condition; final doom.

6. The point beyond which no progression can be made.

7. Final determination; conclusion of debate or deliberation.

8. Close of life; death; decease.

9. Cessation; period; close of a particular state of things; as the end of the world.

10. Limit; termination.

11. Destruction.

12. Cause of death; a destroyer.

13. Consequence; issue; result; conclusive event; conclusion.

14. A fragment or broken piece.

15. The ultimate point or thing at which one aims or directs his views; the object intended to be reached or accomplished by any action or scheme; purpose intended; scope; aim; drift; as private ends; public ends.

16. An end, for on end, upright; erect; as, his hair stands an end.

17. The ends of the earth, in scripture, are the remotest parts of the earth, or the inhabitants of those parts. (Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

What is the ultimate point or thing at which we should be aiming or directing our views? What is the object intended to be reached in this whole “scheme?”

It is Christ. He is the “end.” We apply this whole process of the doctrine of Christ until he manifests himself to us in the flesh. Nephi does not say any more because anything he might say would be less than what Christ can manifest to us, and Christ can’t manifest things to us until we have applied what Nephi labored to write about, so plainly, in chapter 31.

The doctrine of Christ is the means by which God transforms us from our fallen selves into sons and daughters of God worthy to be in his presence and which results in him manifesting himself unto us in the flesh.

(To Be Continued in Part II)

The Doctrine of Christ—2 Nephi 32:1-6

Revised on 4-30-2021: 

1 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?

2 Nephi 32 is Nephi’s attempt to clarify some things he taught in chapter 31, and reading it fills me with so many thoughts and emotions that I considered not even making an attempt at a blogpost. I don’t know that I can do my feelings justice on this chapter, so I just want to give the reader fair warning that any of the next few posts that discuss chapter 32 will in no way be complete. It is highly likely that they will be revised from time to time as I find better ways to communicate more clearly the things in my mind and heart. 

In verse 1, Nephi says that he “supposes” something. He doesn’t know this thing for sure, but he has every reason to present it as a possibility. That something is the idea that his brethren “ponder somewhat in [their] hearts concerning that which [they] should do after [they] have entered in by the way.”

It is interesting to me that the Hebrew word for “way” is דרך (de•rech)—which is the same word for “path.” Nephi is talking to a specific group of people in this chapter. He is talking to those who have, through their sincere repentance and by God’s grace, undergone that mighty change of heart and who are in the strait and narrow path. If you have not yet received that change of heart, what he goes on to say will neither make sense to you nor help you. Even if you have, you might not get it. That’s why he provides clarification.

The reason why Nephi supposes what he does is because he knows that the transition from a proclivity towards physical things to a proclivity towards things of the spirit can be somewhat of a challenge.

Progress along the path can be stalled for several reasons. First and foremost, being reborn can be such an incredible and overwhelming experience, it will be easy to think that you are “saved” by experiencing that one event. You will be tempted to go no further. It has been my experience that being reborn opens up such a newness of possibility that it can be difficult and overwhelming to determine what to do at that point. It is also very easy to be distracted by physical things that interested you before your rebirth, to the point that little to no forward spiritual movement is made along the path. It is also difficult to break away from false traditions. You can also be misled. Nephi’s question at the end of verse one calls on us to evaluate why we might be experiencing any lack of progress on that path—an inherently difficult thing to do because we won’t necessarily know what progress on the path looks like.

It has been beyond helpful for me to remember what put me on the path in the first place. It was information—information that gave me reason to believe that any new actions based on that information would yield an outcome that brought my character closer to that of Christ.

2 Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?

Remember that a person initially arrives at the state in which he can receive the Holy Ghost by fully and honestly submitting to God and by being cleansed and forgiven of their sins, “relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.” (2 Nephi 31:19) Consequently, a person can only continue to enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost by maintaining that state. This state of perfection can only be maintained by our reconciliation to any new information the Lord may impart to us. It is in this state that we are able to “speak with the tongue of angels” and we are able to have greater and greater amounts of information given to us. Nephi asks us, specifically, to remember that there is an association here—the reception (and retention) of the Holy Ghost invariably leads to speaking with the tongue of angels. For anyone who truly has the gift of the Holy Ghost, speaking with the tongue of angels should be commonplace.

So, do you speak with the tongue of angels? And if you don’t, can you claim to have received the Holy Ghost? And if you can’t, have you actually had a baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost? If you haven’t, you can “in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” (Mosiah 27:26) Remember, “nowise” means “to any degree.“

Harsh, but true.

At this point, it will be helpful to understand what it means to “speak with the tongue of angels.” I believe that Nephi gives us some clues as to what that means back in chapter 31:

For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding. (2 Nephi 31:3)

“Plainness” is the manner after which the Lord works among the children of men. This is so critical. The Lord gives “light unto the understanding.” He speaks unto men “unto their understanding.”

This is what he does. This is what his angels do. They communicate knowledge and information plainly to people to bring them to the point of increased understanding about God and what is required to be more like him.

Some people believe that speaking with the tongue of angels is accompanied by an actual spoken language that is different from any used here in this world. Personally, I haven’t experienced that, and I don’t feel inclined to take a strong position against the claim on its own, but I will say that if you are babbling some foreign language without a noticeable, accompanying increase in the knowledge of God, in you or others around you, odds are you aren’t speaking in tongues. You are just babbling.

God doesn’t save us by causing us to babble. He doesn’t even save us by granting us the ability to speak foreign languages. He saves us by teaching us what it takes to become more like him, and we can only become more like him as we reconcile ourselves to the information he gives us. You speak with the tongue of angels when you understand this information in plainness. You don’t have to do mental gymnastics to try to figure out what God is trying to teach you. The mysteries of God are made plain to you.

People can only speak with the tongue of angels when they have demonstrated a willingness to open their ears and understand what God is trying (and will try) to communicate to them. It is that willingness that opens the channel to receive a greater understanding through the Holy Ghost. That is why angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost and why you can only speak with the tongue of angels after you have received the Holy Ghost. 

3 Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

New information will come through messengers. Angels are messengers, and they speak by the power of the Holy Ghost. There are actually messages from God all around you. The “Holy Ghost” has power to make that new information accessible to you and to enable you to comprehend it. An angel can take many forms. A message might be delivered through a writer of scripture from ages long ago. It might be delivered by someone who plays a major role in your life or someone you meet in passing. A message can be communicated to you through your surroundings. It might be delivered by an actual angel or by the Lord himself. Whatever form the messenger takes, the information is communicated “by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

I feel strongly the need to very quickly address the fact that the mainstream LDS concept of the “Holy Ghost” is incorrect. I’m not to make a case for that in detail in this post. I will likely do that in another one. I will say that one can gain a greater and more correct understanding of the Holy Ghost by pondering on what is imparted to the individual when he/she receives the Holy Ghost, as well as temple symbolism in the names, signs, and tokens received in the endowment and figure 7 of facsimile #2 from the book of Abraham.

Going back to verse 3, let’s quickly define the word “wherefore.” It isn’t a word we frequently use nowadays, but it’s used twice in verse 3, so we might want to know what it means. “Wherefore” means “for which reason.” In common modern English, one might say, “that’s why.” Let’s break verse 3 down into parts and substitute “wherefore” with its definition:

Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; [that’s why] they speak the words of Christ.

The mechanism used to convey the words of Christ to us is the Holy Ghost. One role of the Holy Ghost is to communicate truth to us. The words of Christ are truth. The information we receive from and about Christ—the information that we must gain and reconcile ourselves to in order for us to move forward along the strait and narrow path—is truth and is the natural consequence of the Holy Ghost and its power.

[That’s why] I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

Nephi is saying: “Hey, you know when I told you to feast upon the words of Christ back in chapter 31? I said that because that is what you should be receiving if you actually have the Holy Ghost. You should be receiving the words of Christ (or truth) as delivered to you by angels through the power of the Holy Ghost. And if you are feasting upon the words of Christ in this way, the words of Christ will tell you what you need to do to move forward on the path.”

At this point, I need to take issue, once again, with mainstream LDS belief and practice. I believe that there’s a reason why Nephi dedicates a whole chapter to clarifying the doctrine of Christ to people who should be making progress along the strait and narrow path, but aren’t.

The teachings of the church effectively sideline the Holy Ghost in the lives of its members. First, it is widely taught that members receive the gift of the Holy Ghost at confirmation. This leads members to assume that they have access to the Holy Ghost when they don’t. Second, members are taught that church leadership cannot lead the membership astray. This teaching is damning because it gives the membership no reason to verify what is being taught. It is cult mentality. Any message from God sent by any messenger should be transmitted by the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is something that dwells within the individual. It will authenticate any message from God by communicating additional knowledge about God to the individual, in plainness, and that knowledge will always be greater than what is already possessed because we should already be reconciled to the knowledge he has already given us. This information from God does not consist of shallow platitudes, or a repetition of institutional obligations prescribed by church leadership to its members, or a plethora of self-help quotes comparable to what you can find in books on the New York bestseller list—all of which, arguably, constitute most general conference addresses. Members are taught to look to church leadership when they should be being taught to entertain angels and other messengers by discerning who those messengers are and the truthfulness of their messages by the power of the Holy Ghost.

4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark.

We are in the dark by default, and we need to be brought into the light. If we are not brought into the light, we perish because we are not asking for the light (or knowledge) that saves us. How can you reconcile yourself to what you do not know?

Verse 5 is a nice little snapshot of Nephi’s admonitions: 

5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.

Describing this whole process and how it is perceived by the individual is extremely difficult to do. There is dimension to it and so describing it one way doesn’t do justice to all of the other ways in which it could be described, even if you are aware of each dimension. I certainly don’t feel like what I have written here does justice to what I have experienced. The best way to understand what Nephi is describing is to experience it yourself.

You can’t experience it for yourself if you think that you have been reborn when you actually haven’t. You can’t experience it for yourself if you assume that your rebirth is the end of your journey. It isn’t. Not by a long shot. You have to actively pursue more information. You have to learn how to sort that information into what is conveyed to you by the Holy Ghost and what isn’t. You have to act on what you think is conveyed to you by the Holy Ghost to test and to prove it, and sometimes you won’t want to. Even when you do, you have to learn how to evaluate whether or not your actions moved you closer toward an end that you are not even fully aware of. It is a harrowing journey and frequently causes many to fall by the wayside, and yet, for those who would lay hold to the word of God and walk this path, this is the process by which we are shown “all things what [we] should do.”

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ...