When God Moves On! (A Sad Commentary)

 “Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Hosts.” (2 Nephi 28:32)

A sad day is fast approaching.  It will not be a day of joy, baptism, and rejoicing, but a day of darkness in which no work performed will provide any relief or escape.  It is the awful Day of the LORD (YHVH).   On that day there will be no crying out “LORD! LORD!“ with any hope for deliverance for at that time the day of repentance is past.  It is a Day of Judgment.

Straight Talk to the Gentiles - Tragic Irony

In the Days of Christ and the Apostles a small number of Jews received and obeyed the Gospel (the message that was sent forth) of Christ.  As a result of the overall rejection of the message by many of the Jews of the Day he took his Gospel from among them and sent it forth among the Gentiles.  In these Last Days, a tragic irony is occurring.  Another Declaration or Message of the Gospel has gone forth but this time it has been issued first among the Gentiles.  By and large the declaration is going unheeded and even among those who were willing to hear the message, many are walking down forbidden paths to destruction all the while thinking they are obeying God.

“Verily, I say unto you, I am the stone, and those wicked ones reject me. I am the head of the corner. These Jews shall fall upon me, and shall be broken. And the kingdom of God shall be taken from them, and shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof; (meaning the Gentiles.)

Wherefore, on whomsoever this stone shall fall, it shall grind him to powder.  And when the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, he will destroy those miserable, wicked men, and will let again his vineyard unto other husbandmen, even in the last days, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.

And then understood they the parable which he spake unto them, that the Gentiles should be destroyed also, when the Lord should descend out of heaven to reign in his vineyard, which is the earth and the inhabitants thereof.” (JST Matthew 21: 51-56)

The tragedy of this whole scene is that just like the Jews of old who believed they had security in their covenant status as the Children of Abraham, the gentiles who had the message of the fullness of the Gospel are also clinging to a false sense of security in their “covenant status” as THE ONE TRUE CHURCH.  The names and places may have changed, but whether Jew of Gentile, the events of the past are repeating.  The Lessons of Ancient Israels’ rejection of God are going unnoticed and unheeded.  In other words Gentiles—you are doing the same thing.  And if God destroyed the Green Tree (Israel) whose descendants were only saved because of the promises God made to the Fathers, what do you think he will do to the Gentiles who do not have those promises?

THE MODERN POLLUTION(S) OF THE GENTILES: 

In the mind of an Israelite, POLLUTION results from the Mixing the HOLY WITH THE PROFANE!  Just as God delivered ancient Israel over to destruction because they polluted their covenant land and engaged in all manner of idolatry, so too will he deliver those in the Latter Days who pollute this covenant land.  So just what pollutions are going on among the gentiles and the “remnant movement”?

1.       Polluting the Holy Church (Assembly of People) of God:

“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities (lawlessness); and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

Walking in the Pride of your Hearts is an interesting Hebraic expression. In Hebrew the heart is considered the center of our thoughts and personality. Pride (root gey) means to lift up high like the mountains that surround a valley. The idea is one of creating a place with high walls. In Hebraic thought The Torah (God's Instructions) are to be our boundaries or walls, so when we walk in the Pride of our hearts we are walking according to our own self or man-made laws putting ourselves not only above others but above God's instructions. This leads to a state of iniquity or lawlessness.

In the above scripture it explains that because we have created our own law or instructions and placed them above God’s commandments we begin to be divided and divided based upon apparel, envy, etc. ALL of our churches have become POLLUTED (Hebrew: MIXED or UNCLEAN) because we lift ourselves up above God’s law and walk after the lifted and swelled thoughts or laws we personally create. In other words we become a law unto ourselves.

2.       Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Magics

“And it came to pass that there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land, even unto the fulfilling of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite.” (Mormon 1:19)

For every counterfeit there exists the real thing.  The counterfeit or disguise is a replica of God’s true Kingdom and works. Every time we see a counterfeit we need to examine it closely to discern what is being counterfeited else we may easily be deceived.  In the scriptures we see that everything Satan does is a counterfeit of a trait of the Kingdom of God. The apostles called these counterfeits “disguises”:

“These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11: 14-15)

Because the Gentiles have departed from the right way (God’s commandments) and no longer know the God in whom they should trust the gifts of the spirit cease:

“And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.” (Mormon 9:19-20)

The Gentiles are rejecting God’s commandments as given in his scriptures and because they have been dumbed down by a correlated gospel they do not know (and in some cases don’t even know where to look for) God’s Laws.  Many of them hate the scriptures of God and deem them as lesser favoring instead to “Connect to Heaven”—a true doctrine that is becoming distorted because they cannot discern right from wrong.  Like the Jews of old who look beyond the mark, they too are looking beyond the mark and as result they are blind (Heb: unable to discern right from wrong).

The result is that the gifts of God stop because the people do not seek the gifts for the purposes for which they are given:

“Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;  For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts." (D&C 46:8-9)

Because they have departed from their God given call to establish God’s commandments and righteous dominion in their homes and families, the gifts of the spirit stop because they are given for the sole purpose of empowering God’s people to guard, practice, and establish his commandments.  

Like Israel of old who did the same thing, the people become ignorant and cannot seem to figure out why God doesn’t talk to them or the miracles of old are absent.  In their desire and desperation they turn to counterfeits of spiritualism, divination, witchcraft, and magics in the hopes of  “connecting to Heaven”.  In our modern world the counterfeits would consulting the spirits of the dead, channeling guides, earth worship, the use of drugs to “lower the veil”, psychics, astral projection for success, and the list goes on and on.  In fact in the entire message of “Remember the Restoration”, I do not see anywhere where it calls us to remember the 60’s Hippie Movements with its accompanying free love, free sex, free drugs philosophy.

 Goddess Worship/Idolatry:

Because of religious traditions, priestcrafts, and the abuses of many men and women there are many who think of God as a tyrannical, capricious, and dictatorial “Man in the Sky”.   There are many who see through this veil that hides the true masculine and feminine nature of God and reject this image of an Intergalactic Hitler.  Our adversary, however, has been doing his job for quite a long time and he is not so easily defeated.  While men and women reject this false idea of God the adversary is right there with another lie to lead you away from the worship of the True God.  It is the LIE of Heavenly Mother or Goddess Worship!

Instead of coming to a knowledge of the true and eternal covenant nature of God, the adversary introduces the concept of the "goddess," a female entity who was "nurturing, mysterious, and loving like the earth- like a mother."  Compared to the Hitler God portrayed by many hierarchical and authoritarian religious organizations, the goddess experience leads to an artificial salvation of love and comfort based emotion and neediness.  In other words, if mean Daddy doesn’t give me what I want then I am going to make an end run to loving, caring, and nurturing Mommy who will!

The enthroning of the “goddess” and the feminine without a true understanding of God’s law and covenant relationship have created a deceptive feminine spirituality movement.     This creation of the “goddess” is a movement that seeks to overthrow the worship of the True God and replace it with a new system of worship that ultimately allows the adversary to play the role of a puppet master.  This is a tactic of war that involves the changing of the foundation of Man’s understanding of God. People must now learn to see God as a goddess-Heavenly Mother or the Queen of Heaven.

Goddess worship, the sacred feminine, and the feminine divine all refer to an entity or person most often identified as "Mother Goddess" , “Heavenly Mother”, or “The Queen of Heaven”.  Other names used include Ishtar, Astarte, Gaia, Sophia, Artemis, Diana, Isis, and Venus.

Even Ancient Israel was not free from its’ influence:

  

“We will not listen to your messages from the LORD! We will do whatever we want. We will burn incense and pour out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven just as much as we like—just as we, and our ancestors, and our kings and officials have always done in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For in those days we had plenty to eat, and we were well off and had no troubles!

But ever since we quit burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and stopped worshiping her with liquid offerings, we have been in great trouble and have been dying from war and famine.”

 “Besides,” the women added, “do you suppose that we were burning incense and pouring out liquid offerings to the Queen of Heaven, and making cakes marked with her image, without our husbands knowing it and helping us?  Of course not!”

Then Jeremiah said to all of them, men and women alike, who had given him that answer,  “Do you think the LORD did not know that you and your ancestors, your kings and officials, and all the people were burning incense to idols in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?

It was because the LORD could no longer bear all the disgusting things you were doing that he made your land an object of cursing—a desolate ruin without inhabitants—as it is today.

All these terrible things happened to you because you have burned incense to idols and sinned against the LORD. You have refused to obey him and have not followed his instructions, his decrees, and his laws.” (Jeremiah 44:16-23)

Pursue the Authentic

All that glitters is not gold.  Light and darkness both exist just as truth and deception exist.  We must pursue the worship of the true God according to the way he has given and be aware that harmful counterfeits exist, but we cannot engage in the new age counterfeits that exist which promise to fulfill the lusts of a wicked and adulterous generation that seeks only for signs .  We must hold fast to the Iron Rod which is the word of God.  Each spirit and practice must be examined and tested to determine if it is a counterfeit.  If it is a counterfeit or a forbidden practice we must reject it and pursue the authentic instead.

THE TEST!

It is becoming increasingly difficult to discern the holy from the profane or the counterfeit from the authentic.  Over the past decades the New Age/Spiritualist Movement has adopted the Christianese and Mormonese languages. They proclaim Jesus as a prophet or Ascended master, they claim to work with white light of the spirit, and even speak of God as Father and Mother.  This can confuse people who do not recognize the differences between their words and the God’s Word.  So How do we test or discern?

“For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.” (Moroni 7:15-16)

At first glance it might seem that if someone invokes the name of Jesus Christ then by the above referenced scripture it therefore must be true—and there are a lot of people running around say “Jesus this and Jesus that!”.  So if they invoke the name of Jesus it must therefore be good?  Wrong.

An Israelite wrote this scripture.  In an Israelite culture that which is good is that which leads us to fulfill the commandments of God.  If that is the case, then the only way we can discern between good and evil is to know the commandments of God.  If it is good, and of Christ, the teaching or practice will lead you to perform the commandments of God.   If it is evil it will teach you to engage in forbidden acts or practices the God’s word specifically prohibits.

“But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:17)

When God Moves On!

The times of the Gentiles are coming to an end.  Soon the message that God has sent forth will go back to the House of Israel (Remnant of Jacob, Jews, 10 Tribes).  When that day comes many a latter-day saint will still be going to church, pay their tithing, and doing temple work while unbeknownst to them God has removed himself from their dead forms and lifeless hearts.  Life will go on for those who think they are of the “remnant” as they gather in their communities, take the sacrament, and think they are the special few who have been called out all the while ignoring the message of the invitation they were given while engaging in pollutions—the mixing of the Holy with the Profane.