Chapter 19—'Why Do Angels Not Appear to Us?'
Darkness and lies seek to eradicate truth and light. Satan’s way leads to destruction and death while Christ’s leads to renewal and life. Adding to, taking from, misinterpreting, or dismissing truth transforms His gospel into a “different gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4, NIV) that cannot save. Only faithfulness to His word mitigates the damning consequences of doctrinal error.
Teachings or works that diverge from His revealed gospel in any degree lead us from Him, murdering our spirit. The Lord links murder to those who have “gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments which I gave unto their father Adam” (Moses 6:28). Joseph encouraged the “Twelve and all Saints” to
Murder of spirits can lead to murder of flesh, for it was zealous priests who sought the lives of Lehi, Abinadi, Samuel the Lamanite, Jesus Christ, and others who preached truth. “It was religion that killed the prophets, crucified Christ, and produced the noble army of martyrs” or witnesses.
The preacher is under condemnation unless he bears witness and frees himself of the ‘blood of this generation’ and the convicting of a wicked world which must be ‘without excuse’ in the day of judgment. The preaching is not to convert the world but ‘for a witness’—martyria—and it has long been recognized that the primary qualification and calling of an apostle was to be an eye witness. The calling of a witness is to preach to an unbelieving generation ripe for destruction, with the usual expectation (as the name ‘martyr’ indicates) of being rejected and put to death . . . The presence of living witnesses had made the original church what it was.
Apostles are to boldly proclaim repentance, to witness for Christ, and to preach against wickedness, so it is not surprising that the LDS office of an apostle was not created until 14 February 1835, several years after the church was condemned. True apostles do not measure success by the number of baptisms or breadth of their affluence, for true apostles know spiritual conversions are few. Still, apostles obediently and boldly testify for the sake of few to clear themselves of their generations’ sins and iniquities.
“Your churches” (Mormon 8:36) are not His if they deviate from His word: “This is my doctrine. Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church” (D&C 10:67–68). His church must teach His gospel to retain His name and authority, but few remain faithful today as anciently. If His gospel is not preached correctly, His spirit and authority depart even though the church is unaware.
Hell can hinder, but it cannot prevail against God’s word. The righteous Gideon, who “belonged to the church of God,” withstood Nehor, “admonishing him with the words of God” (Alma 1:7–8). This angered Nehor so much that he murdered Gideon. Nehor “pleaded for himself with much boldness” (Alma 1:11) but received death according to the law.
Only in his last mortal moment did Nehor admit his teachings were “contrary to the word of God” (Alma 1:15), but it was too late. Even after his deathbed confession, covenant people had been trained to follow men before God. His execution “did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor” (Alma 1:16).
Years later, a Nehorite asked the righteous Aaron, “Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold, are not this people as good as thy people?” (Alma 21:5). From this we know the priesthood and Spirit had withdrawn from these once-covenant people because the lesser priesthood holds the key to ministering angels. Even if they claimed to hold priesthood, they lost its keys. Because they believed they did worship God in their temples and churches, the wayward Nehorites challenged Aaron,
The “order and faith of Nehor” grew to such prevalence in the land that there were “many lawyers, and judges, and priests, and teachers, who were of the profession of Nehor” (Alma 14:16, 18). Though warned, corruption of laws and doctrine had taken great hold (Alma 1:12). “The foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges” (Alma 10:27). People, originally from the church of God, became so hardened to truth that eventually they destroyed scripture, burned believers, and cast Alma and Amulek into prison.
Not all believers can muster the faith needed to make the sacrifices and endure the persecution required to ascend.
At the time of Christ, “many even among the leaders believed in [Jesus]. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42, NIV), “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43, ESV).
Faith does not fear what man can do. Men may physically hurt or hinder us, but they have no power over our spirits. David declared that because “the Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me? . . . It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:6, 8). Exalting or adoring men is priestcraft. Priestcraft rules the moment a people remain in vanity and unbelief, and it is a precursor to rejecting the fulness of the gospel.
To fear God is to respect or reverence Him. To fear man is to trust or honor man and his ways. “Who is the man who fears before the Lord? He will instruct him in the path . . . The secret of the Lord is revealed to those who fear him; and he makes known to them his covenant.”
Joseph feared God: “The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what He tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular. I will always maintain a true principle, even if I stand alone in it.” Those who remain loyal to God “shall be hated of all men” (Luke 21:17), a reality Enoch experienced as he “cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him” (Moses 6:37).
“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy” (Psalm 14:2–3). They have “become corrupted every whit . . . because of priestcrafts” (D&C 33:4). So “turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways and repent of your evil doings . . . and your priestcrafts . . . and come unto me” or you will be “cut off from among my people” (3 Nephi 30:2, 21:20).
Those who seek Zion cannot fear man. “Your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do for I am with you” (D&C 30:11). “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36, ESV).
Latter-day people on this land will be “filled with all manner . . . of mischiefs” that cause them to reject “the fulness of my gospel.” Their “mischief against me” (Hosea 7:15) includes vain imaginations that serve our own interest but are rebellion against God. Any work or teaching that perpetuates iniquity is mischief. “Workers of iniquity speak peace . . . but mischief is in their hearts” (Psalm 28:3). They birth iniquity and nurture wickedness. “He travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head” (Psalm 7:14–16). They “take away the righteousness” (Isaiah 5:23) and “devise mischief [but] they will not succeed” (Psalm 21:11, ESV).
“God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Joseph said “the most strenuous exertions were used to get [the records] from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose” (JS–History 1:60).
While reforms or “devices of the people” are appealing or eagerly embraced, they are “of none effect” when it comes to salvation (Psalm 33:10). Enoch warns many will lead us astray as they “invent great fabrications” by altering words of truth or falsely claiming to preach God’s word or possess His power (1 Enoch 104:9–11). Because of “false teachers and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted” (2 Nephi 28:12). “My people . . . are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge” (Jeremiah 4:22, New Heart English).
The battle between truth and error, good and evil, right and wrong, trusting God or man continues to rage. “There are save two churches only” and both preach their gospel (1 Nephi 14:10). Satan’s counterfeit worship and diluted doctrines are carefully mixed with gospel points to make teachings appear as truth.
“The call to repentance of the Apostolic Fathers is a last call. They labor the doctrine of the Two Ways as offering to Christian society a last chance to choose between saving its soul by dying in the faith, or saving its skin by coming to terms with the world” through compromise. The truth is, Christianity has been perverted to suit man’s own desire or aspiration. The optimistic but dangerously “comforting pronouncements that God has, as it were, invested so heavily in his church that he simply would not think of letting it fail at this late date” keeps many deceived.
The holy and sanctified comprise the kingdom of God that “shall never be destroyed.” They separate from the world, not compromise with it. That His “kingdom shall not be left to other people” (Daniel 2:44) confirms God will not give His power to unholy men. His kingdom is made without hands, not by acquiring real estate, building numerous temples and meetinghouses, obtaining baptism quotas, or collecting billions in tithes. His kingdom becomes their kingdom when these sins exist.
What will “stand forever” is not an earthly church but a divine kingdom built on “the true Rock” of Christ.
For footnotes and references, click HERE.
Whosoever murdereth [‘leadeth away’] against the light and knowledge of God, it is not easy for him to obtain forgiveness. (Alma 39:6)While difficult to accept that priests or leaders could be guilty of murder, the Lord repeatedly rebukes them for it. Though martyrs’ blood has been shed, murder also has another meaning in scripture. Satan is called “a murderer from the beginning” because he rejected truth, led others astray, and “abode not in the truth” (John 8:44). When rebuked for unbelief, Alma “saw that I had rebelled against my God and that I had not kept his holy commandments. Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction” (Alma 36:13–14).
Teachings or works that diverge from His revealed gospel in any degree lead us from Him, murdering our spirit. The Lord links murder to those who have “gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments which I gave unto their father Adam” (Moses 6:28). Joseph encouraged the “Twelve and all Saints” to
profit by this important key—that in all your trials . . . see to it that you do not betray heaven; that you do not betray Jesus Christ . . . that you do not betray the revelations of God, whether in the Bible, Book of Mormon, or Doctrine & Covenants, or any other that ever was or ever will be given and revealed unto man in this world or that which is to come.
Yea, in all your kicking and flounderings, see to it that you do not this thing, lest innocent blood be found upon your skirts, and you go down to hell. We may ever know by this sign that there is danger of our being led to a fall and apostasy.Betraying Christ or His revelations is tied to having “innocent blood found on your skirts,” imagery of murder. Causing physical or spiritual murder damns us. “There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst . . . They have devoured souls” (Ezekiel 22:25).
Murder of spirits can lead to murder of flesh, for it was zealous priests who sought the lives of Lehi, Abinadi, Samuel the Lamanite, Jesus Christ, and others who preached truth. “It was religion that killed the prophets, crucified Christ, and produced the noble army of martyrs” or witnesses.
The preacher is under condemnation unless he bears witness and frees himself of the ‘blood of this generation’ and the convicting of a wicked world which must be ‘without excuse’ in the day of judgment. The preaching is not to convert the world but ‘for a witness’—martyria—and it has long been recognized that the primary qualification and calling of an apostle was to be an eye witness. The calling of a witness is to preach to an unbelieving generation ripe for destruction, with the usual expectation (as the name ‘martyr’ indicates) of being rejected and put to death . . . The presence of living witnesses had made the original church what it was.
Apostles are to boldly proclaim repentance, to witness for Christ, and to preach against wickedness, so it is not surprising that the LDS office of an apostle was not created until 14 February 1835, several years after the church was condemned. True apostles do not measure success by the number of baptisms or breadth of their affluence, for true apostles know spiritual conversions are few. Still, apostles obediently and boldly testify for the sake of few to clear themselves of their generations’ sins and iniquities.
In bidding farewell to Jews and Gentiles, Paul announces that his missions to them have been successful, not in terms of converts, but of clearing himself of a terrible responsibility: henceforth their blood is on their own heads.
He has fulfilled his assignment successfully, for a crown awaits him—on the other side. ‘Thus it appears,’ writes O. Cullmann, ‘that the coming of the Kingdom does not depend upon the success of this ‘preaching,’ but only on the fact of the proclamation itself.’Throughout history, deceivers misled God’s people. Following the death of righteous King Mosiah, Nehor began preaching what “he termed to be the word of God.” His version of the gospel encouraged “every priest and teacher to become popular” and gain admiration of the people (Alma 1:3). Gain is the object of priestcraft, the very doctrine Nehor introduced into what was once the church of God. All churches in the last days are warned against loving money or seeking power, prestige, or honors of men. Such heresy encouraged 14th-century reformer John Wycliffe to expend great effort to
conduct all men back to the laws of Christ, and especially the clergy, inviting them to let go of the pomp and dominion of the world and live with the apostles according to the life of Christ.Nehor gained enough support among the Nephites to “establish a church after the manner of his preaching” (Alma 1:6). He “established a church” merely by preaching deviant doctrine. If Nehor formally organized his own sect, it may not have presented as great a threat as having a perverse subculture developing amongst covenant people. “Many did believe on his words” and sustain or “support him,” following him as he “lead away the people of the church” of God (Alma 1:5, 7).
“Your churches” (Mormon 8:36) are not His if they deviate from His word: “This is my doctrine. Whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church” (D&C 10:67–68). His church must teach His gospel to retain His name and authority, but few remain faithful today as anciently. If His gospel is not preached correctly, His spirit and authority depart even though the church is unaware.
Whosoever belongeth to my church need not fear, for such shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. But it is they who do not fear me, neither keep my commandments but build up churches unto themselves to get gain, yea, and all those that do wickedly and build up the kingdom of the devil— yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that it is they that I will disturb, and cause to tremble and shake to the center. (D&C 10:55–56)The Lord said “if this generation harden not their hearts” He will “establish my church among them” (D&C 10:53). Part of an 1829 revelation, since removed from D&C 5, said,
I will establish my church, like unto the church which was taught by my disciples in the days of old . . . If this generation do harden their hearts against my word, behold I will deliver them up unto Satan, for he reigneth and hath much power at this time, for he hath got great hold upon the hearts of the people of this generation . . . If they persist in the hardness of their hearts, the time cometh that [destruction] must fall upon them. (Book of Commandments 4:5–6)Alma proclaimed “by the spirit of prophecy, that if ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind” (Alma 37:15).
Hell can hinder, but it cannot prevail against God’s word. The righteous Gideon, who “belonged to the church of God,” withstood Nehor, “admonishing him with the words of God” (Alma 1:7–8). This angered Nehor so much that he murdered Gideon. Nehor “pleaded for himself with much boldness” (Alma 1:11) but received death according to the law.
Behold, this is the first time that priestcraft has been introduced among this people . . . and were priestcraft to be enforced among this people it would prove their entire destruction. (Alma 1:12)To be guilty of priestcraft means Nehor claimed priesthood. Since many believed and supported him, he likely held a high church position and was not questioned. Nehor set himself up as someone to be followed, the very definition of priestcraft: God “commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world; but they seek not the welfare of Zion” (2 Nephi 26:29). Priestcraft—which also includes diverging from God’s revealed word, encouraging reform, and pridefully seeking honors of men—has tempted every generation. “Because of priestcrafts and iniquities,” Jerusalem’s chief priests and people did “stiffen their necks against [Jesus] that he be crucified” (2 Nephi 10:5).
Only in his last mortal moment did Nehor admit his teachings were “contrary to the word of God” (Alma 1:15), but it was too late. Even after his deathbed confession, covenant people had been trained to follow men before God. His execution “did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor” (Alma 1:16).
Years later, a Nehorite asked the righteous Aaron, “Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold, are not this people as good as thy people?” (Alma 21:5). From this we know the priesthood and Spirit had withdrawn from these once-covenant people because the lesser priesthood holds the key to ministering angels. Even if they claimed to hold priesthood, they lost its keys. Because they believed they did worship God in their temples and churches, the wayward Nehorites challenged Aaron,
Thou also sayest, except we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our hearts? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have built sanctuaries and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. (Alma 21:6)These dissenters established a city called Jerusalem, had temples, and “built synagogues” or meetinghouses according to a pattern (Alma 21:4). What a contrast to Joseph who instead of building meetinghouses, sought only to build a holy house of God worthy of His presence. After Joseph’s death the LDS built meetinghouses in great number in Utah.
Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars . . . Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty . . . They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant: thus judgment springeth [upon them]. (Hosea 10:1–2, 4)Although the Nehorites considered themselves righteous, to God they were a “hard-hearted and a stiff-necked people [who] repented not of their sins . . . [and] did not believe in the repentance of their sins” (Alma 15:15). The Nehorites did not reject the principle of repentance, they just refused to believe they were in error, believing their way was sufficient for salvation. Because of this, they did not recognize truth or God’s power among them. When warned to repent, they did “ascribe all the power of Alma and Amulek to the devil” (Alma 15:15).
Take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil. (Moroni 7:14)The faithful were harassed for rejecting Nehor’s teachings. Those who “did belong to the church of God” (who truly “had taken upon them the name of Christ”) were persecuted by Nehorites who used “all manner of words” against them (Alma 1:19–20). “Workers of iniquity . . . shoot their arrows, even bitter words” at the faithful (Psalm 64:2–3). The shield of faith protects the righteous from their arrows and “congregations who will gnash their teeth upon you . . . Be not discouraged at this. When God pours out His spirit, the enemy will rage; but God, remember, is on your right hand and on your left.”
The “order and faith of Nehor” grew to such prevalence in the land that there were “many lawyers, and judges, and priests, and teachers, who were of the profession of Nehor” (Alma 14:16, 18). Though warned, corruption of laws and doctrine had taken great hold (Alma 1:12). “The foundation of the destruction of this people is beginning to be laid by the unrighteousness of your lawyers and your judges” (Alma 10:27). People, originally from the church of God, became so hardened to truth that eventually they destroyed scripture, burned believers, and cast Alma and Amulek into prison.
The most cruel persecutors of the faith as it is in Christ Jesus are renegades from it.This “was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God and they bore with patience the persecution” (Alma 1:25). Those who treasured God’s word “left their labor to impart . . . [and] hear the word of God” (Alma 1:26). With their abundance, they did not acquire excess properties, amass fortunes, or make investments. Instead they lived the united order. The faithful live all their covenants, including the law of consecration, by not merely saying, but by doing it. Possessing the covenant assures nothing unless we walk up to our duties.
Not all believers can muster the faith needed to make the sacrifices and endure the persecution required to ascend.
At the time of Christ, “many even among the leaders believed in [Jesus]. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42, NIV), “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God” (John 12:43, ESV).
Faith does not fear what man can do. Men may physically hurt or hinder us, but they have no power over our spirits. David declared that because “the Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do unto me? . . . It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:6, 8). Exalting or adoring men is priestcraft. Priestcraft rules the moment a people remain in vanity and unbelief, and it is a precursor to rejecting the fulness of the gospel.
To fear God is to respect or reverence Him. To fear man is to trust or honor man and his ways. “Who is the man who fears before the Lord? He will instruct him in the path . . . The secret of the Lord is revealed to those who fear him; and he makes known to them his covenant.”
Joseph feared God: “The object with me is to obey and teach others to obey God in just what He tells us to do. It mattereth not whether the principle is popular or unpopular. I will always maintain a true principle, even if I stand alone in it.” Those who remain loyal to God “shall be hated of all men” (Luke 21:17), a reality Enoch experienced as he “cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were offended because of him” (Moses 6:37).
“The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy” (Psalm 14:2–3). They have “become corrupted every whit . . . because of priestcrafts” (D&C 33:4). So “turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways and repent of your evil doings . . . and your priestcrafts . . . and come unto me” or you will be “cut off from among my people” (3 Nephi 30:2, 21:20).
Those who seek Zion cannot fear man. “Your whole labor shall be in Zion, with all your soul, from henceforth; yea, you shall ever open your mouth in my cause, not fearing what man can do for I am with you” (D&C 30:11). “Do not fear, only believe” (Mark 5:36, ESV).
You will need the mind of Enoch or Elijah, and the faith of the brother of Jared. You must be prepared to walk by faith, however appalling the prospect to human view . . . Receive what comes [and] in the end you will stand while others will fall.Many believe their priesthood cannot be taken and their church is assured against failing. It is to say “in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity,” but this is deceptive vanity (Psalm 10:6–7).
Latter-day people on this land will be “filled with all manner . . . of mischiefs” that cause them to reject “the fulness of my gospel.” Their “mischief against me” (Hosea 7:15) includes vain imaginations that serve our own interest but are rebellion against God. Any work or teaching that perpetuates iniquity is mischief. “Workers of iniquity speak peace . . . but mischief is in their hearts” (Psalm 28:3). They birth iniquity and nurture wickedness. “He travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head” (Psalm 7:14–16). They “take away the righteousness” (Isaiah 5:23) and “devise mischief [but] they will not succeed” (Psalm 21:11, ESV).
“God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions” (Ecclesiastes 7:29). Joseph said “the most strenuous exertions were used to get [the records] from me. Every stratagem that could be invented was resorted to for that purpose” (JS–History 1:60).
While reforms or “devices of the people” are appealing or eagerly embraced, they are “of none effect” when it comes to salvation (Psalm 33:10). Enoch warns many will lead us astray as they “invent great fabrications” by altering words of truth or falsely claiming to preach God’s word or possess His power (1 Enoch 104:9–11). Because of “false teachers and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted” (2 Nephi 28:12). “My people . . . are skillful in doing evil, but to do good they have no knowledge” (Jeremiah 4:22, New Heart English).
Sin whispers to the wicked, deep within their hearts. They have no fear of God at all. In their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are. Everything they say is crooked and deceitful. They refuse to act wisely or do good. They lie awake at night, hatching sinful plots. Their actions are never good. They make no attempt to turn from evil. (Psalm 36:1–4, NLT)“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20). It is all cleverly sold as the opposite of what it really is under the direction of Satan, the “father of lies” (John 8:44)—and ignorance is no excuse.
The battle between truth and error, good and evil, right and wrong, trusting God or man continues to rage. “There are save two churches only” and both preach their gospel (1 Nephi 14:10). Satan’s counterfeit worship and diluted doctrines are carefully mixed with gospel points to make teachings appear as truth.
“The call to repentance of the Apostolic Fathers is a last call. They labor the doctrine of the Two Ways as offering to Christian society a last chance to choose between saving its soul by dying in the faith, or saving its skin by coming to terms with the world” through compromise. The truth is, Christianity has been perverted to suit man’s own desire or aspiration. The optimistic but dangerously “comforting pronouncements that God has, as it were, invested so heavily in his church that he simply would not think of letting it fail at this late date” keeps many deceived.
The Apostolic Fathers denounce with feeling the all too popular doctrine that God’s church simply cannot fail. All past triumphs, tribulations, and promises, they insist, will count for nothing unless the people now repent and stand firm in a final test that lies just ahead. God’s past blessings and covenants, far from being a guarantee of immunity (as many fondly believe) are the very opposite, for ‘the greater the knowledge we have received, the greater rather the danger in which we lie.’
The case of the Jews, to say nothing of the fallen angels, should prove that we are never safe. God will surely allow his people to perish if they continue in the way they are going . . . They see the church running full speed in the wrong direction, and in great distress of mind plead with it to do an about-face ‘before it is too late,’ as soon it will be.Joseph’s warning that the church must repent or face serious consequences has been ignored. How quickly the conditional nature of divine blessings was exchanged for soothing doctrines, like infallibility of a church and its leaders.
These were not wanton or irresponsible men, but devoted leaders desperately desirous of assuring themselves and their people of the unassailable integrity of the church . . . Rhetoric had transferred the church into a glorious abstraction, a noble allegory, and as such an eternal, spiritual, indestructible entity. [This resulted in an] inability to think of the church as anything but a permanent and growing institution. [The greatest threat to this pervasive but erroneous belief always comes from those who ask searching] questions as to whether the church still possessed those things which in the beginning certified its divinity.If covenant terms are not met, “I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them” (3 Nephi 16:10). While His kingdom may continue, His name, authority, and power will be removed from backsliding Gentiles.
To claim that the true Church is immune to corruption no matter how much it changes is to hold all the warnings of the Lord and the apostles in contempt. They felt no such confidence: ‘For if God spared not the angels,’ what guarantee of immunity can men expect? (2 Peter 2:4–22). Christians have often taken comfort in the axiom that it is perfectly unthinkable that God should allow his church to suffer annihilation, that he would certainly draw the line somewhere.
This is the very doctrine of ultimate immunity against which the Apostolic Fathers thunder, and later fathers remind us that we may not reject the appalling possibility simply because it is appealing . . . If, ‘after the prophets came the false prophets, and after the apostles the false apostles, and after the Christ the Antichrist,’ is it unthinkable that the church should likewise have a dubious successor?A church that does not preach His gospel can be destroyed. When Brigham Young taught that “out of this Church will grow the kingdom which Daniel saw,” he acknowledged the conditional nature of blessings. “If we are not faithful, others will take our places,” he warned. “This is a day of trial for you.” Daniel’s vision of the king’s dream showed God’s kingdom, not church, will never be destroyed.
Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces . . . and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. (Daniel 2:34–35, 44)The New Testament gives a precedent for removing God’s kingdom from the unsanctified. But such tragedies are not always noticed. John the Baptist “wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews by the holy anointing and decree of heaven,” but the Jews continued running the church as they had been, without realizing it. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). The fruits begin with faith and repentance and bring divine “gifts and power.”
The holy and sanctified comprise the kingdom of God that “shall never be destroyed.” They separate from the world, not compromise with it. That His “kingdom shall not be left to other people” (Daniel 2:44) confirms God will not give His power to unholy men. His kingdom is made without hands, not by acquiring real estate, building numerous temples and meetinghouses, obtaining baptism quotas, or collecting billions in tithes. His kingdom becomes their kingdom when these sins exist.
All their deeds manifest unrighteousness, and their power rests on their wealth. Their faith is in the gods they have made with their hands, and thy deny the name of the Lord of Spirits. They persecute the houses of his congregation and the faithful who depend on the name of the Lord. (1 Enoch 46:7)God’s people are few, converted in heart and soul, having a divine endowment of power. God “giveth strength and power unto his people” (Psalm 68:35). His gospel builds the kingdom of God which rolls forth with faith and power. “Keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth” only if worthy, and “from thence”—by receiving and retaining these keys—“shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth until it has filled the whole earth” (D&C 65:2).
What will “stand forever” is not an earthly church but a divine kingdom built on “the true Rock” of Christ.
For footnotes and references, click HERE.