A Great and A Marvelous Work Among the Children of Men

 1 Nephi 14:5 - 7, NC 1 Nephi 3 par. 26

And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying, Thou hast beheld that if the gentiles repent, it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel. And thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. Therefore, woe be unto the gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the Devil of which I have spoken.

The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim, 1 Nefi 3 par. 26

And it came to pass that the angel spoke unto me, Nefi, saying, You have beheld that if the Goyim repent, it shall be well with them; and you also know concerning the covenants of yhwh unto the house of Isra’el. And you also have heard that whoever repents not must perish. Therefore, woe be unto the Goyim if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of Elohim. For the time comes, says the Lamb of Elohim, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto shalom and life Eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of HaSatan of which I have spoken.

I would like to look at the phrase the angel used here as he spoke with Nephi; "a great and a marvelous work".

Again, as always, it is impossible to even adequately scratch the surface of such a subject in a blog.

What I hope to share is a little of what I presently understand concerning "a great and a marvelous work".

What I presently understand concerning this subject is what makes sense to me.  If I am correct at all in my understanding of it I am sure that I am only partially understanding something that seems to me to be a great culmination of things that began with Adam and will affect the entire human family.

Is it possible, by looking in the scriptures, to come to understand more about what the angel is telling Nephi here in his vision concerning the Lamb of God working "a great and a marvelous work"?

Is it a coincidence that the Lord used the very same phrase "a great and a marvelous work" when He was teaching the Nephites the words of Isaiah when He appeared to them and ministered to them following His resurrection?

And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place, that I shall gather in from their long dispersion my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion. And behold, this is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign: for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you — and which I shall declare unto you hereafter of myself and by the power of the holy ghost, which shall be given unto you of the Father — shall be made known unto the gentiles, that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them, verily, verily I say unto you, when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father and shall come forth of the Father from them unto you — for it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel — therefore, when these works and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the gentiles unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity — for thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the gentiles, that he may shew forth his power unto the gentiles for this cause, that the gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel — and when these things come to pass, that thy seed shall begin to know these things, it shall be a sign unto them that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel. And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them, and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore, they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will shew unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the Devil. Therefore, it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the gentiles, it shall be done even as Moses said — They shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant. And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. Yea, woe be unto the gentiles except they repent, for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strong holds. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Thy graven images I will also cut off and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day, whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel, and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. (3 Nephi 21:1 - 21, NC 3 Nephi 9 pars. 11 - 12)

There are a multitude of blog posts of subjects that could be discussed in the above statement of the Lord to the Nephites. 

Do the things the Lord states here concerning the results of either accepting the great and a marvelous work or of rejecting it line up with the words of the angel to Nephi?

Do the Lord's words speak of this work being everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the Devil of which I have spoken. 

When the Lord declared this, for thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the gentiles, that he may shew forth his power unto the gentiles for this cause, that the gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel,  could it be reasonably assumed that such actions by a convinced people would bring that people along to a condition of peace in this life and eventually life eternal?

When the Lord declared this,woe be unto the gentiles except they repent, for it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Father, that I will cut off thy horses out of the midst of thee, and I will destroy thy chariots, and I will cut off the cities of thy land and throw down all thy strong holds. And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers. Thy graven images I will also cut off and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands. And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day, whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel, and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard,  could it be reasonably assumed that such actions would deliver a people to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds into captivity and destruction both temporally and spiritually?

Are the words of the angel to Nephi and the words of the Lord to the Nephites speaking of the same "great and a marvelous work"?

My present understanding is that yes they are speaking of the same thing.

If I am correct then is it possible that by looking into the words of the Lord to the Nephites which contain more details that I can come to see some things that might give me understanding so that I would be able to recognize this great and a marvelous work?

As a very important aside to get a reference of timing for this "great and a marvelous work", is the following statement by the Lord to the Nephites related to the words of the angel Nephi to the Prophet Joseph in Sept. 1823?

Therefore, it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the gentiles, it shall be done even as Moses said — They shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant.(Words of the Lord from the above quotation)

After telling me these things he commenced quoting the prophecies of the Old Testament. He first quoted part of the third chapter of Malachi [Mal. 1:6 – 8], and he quoted also the fourth or last chapter of the same prophecy [Mal. 1:9 – 11], though with a little variation from the way it reads in our Bibles. Instead of quoting the first verse as reads in our books, he quoted it thus: For behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea and all that do wickedly, shall burn as stubble; for they that cometh shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And again he quoted the fifth verse thus: Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. He also quoted the next verse differently: And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming. In addition to these he quoted the eleventh chapter of Isaiah [Isaiah 5:3-5], saying that it was about to be fulfilled. He quoted also the third chapter of Acts, twenty-second and twenty-third verses [Acts 2:3], precisely as they stand in our New Testament. He said that that prophet was Christ, but the day had not yet come when they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people, but soon would come. He also quoted the second chapter of Joel from the twenty-eighth to the last verse [Joel 1:12]. He also said that this was not yet fulfilled, but was soon to be. And he further stated the fullness of the gentiles was soon to come in. He quoted many other passages of scripture and offered many explanations which cannot be mentioned here. (Joseph Smith History 1:36 - 41, T&C 1, Joseph Smith History, Part 3, par. )

Isn't the Lord, by His own words, in the Book of Mormon to the Nephites telling us that what Nephi told the Prophet Joseph concerning the day had not yet come when they who would not hear his voice should be cut off from among the people, but soon would come.  that that event would come about by this great and a marvelous work?

Would being cut off from among the people or as the Savior stated it being cut off from among my people who are of the covenant, be an action that is everlasting to the bringing down into captivity unto destruction both temporally and spiritually?

The Lord declared that this cutting off would occur to those who reject His word that He has sent forth among the gentiles by His servant.

Does that mean that to hear the words spoken by the delineated servant of Christ is to hear Christ's words?

Would that match with what the Lord revealed through the Prophet Joseph?

Search these commandments for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled. What I, the Lord, have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself. And though the heaven and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants it is the same. For behold and lo, the Lord is God and the spirit bears record, and the record is true, and the truth abides for ever and ever. Amen. (D&C 1:37 - 39, T&C 54 par. 7)

Would it be very important for me to find this servant Christ is speaking of to the Nephites and heed the words of Christ given through this servant in order to not be cut off from the people who are of the covenant of Christ?

Don't the words of Christ to the Nephites place the timing of this servant delivering Christ's words or in other words this great and a marvelous work taking place after the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and after the establishment of a gentile church?

There is sooo much to consider.

Back to the post.

For our momentarily limited inquiry into the subject recorded by Nephi here we will focus on one part of the Lord's statement; And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them, and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.

According to the Lord are the kings of the world going to understand what is happening as this great and a marvelous work occurs?

Please consider the following commentary given July 15 2010 on the above words of the Lord. 

And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.  For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.”

Christ is quoting from Isaiah and applying the words to a specific time frame. It is post-gentile receipt of the Book of Mormon, post-delivery of that book to the remnant, and post-opportunity for gentiles to repent and know of the true points of His doctrine. When that happens, the Lord will be freed up to fulfill the covenants of the Father.

When the Father’s covenants are in being fulfilled, “kings shall shut their mouths.” That is, the noble of this world will not know what to say. They will be at a loss of words because of the Father’s acts.

Things that haven’t been “told them” will take place, and they will not understand.

Things that they never had taught to them will unfold, and they cannot comprehend, cannot get their hands around it all.  It will dumbfound them.

Even when people who understand that the events are according to the Father’s plan, and the Lord’s covenant, they will not be able to believe it.

Too much! Too distressing! Too unexpected! Too great to take in! It will be confusion and distress, and the idea that God is behind it all will be unbelievable to them. (Isa. 52: 15.)

Their plans for managing the world will be dashed and end.  Their great investments will be lost.The control they imagined they had as “kings” will fade to dust. (Hag. 2: 22.)

How can such splendor, such great and masterful arrangements, such glory in mankind become nothing? How can it all fall to the dust? (Rev. 14: 7-8.)

It will be “great and marvelous” because it shows the Father’s power and might. But it will be inconvenient and distressing, unbelievable and terrible. (Malachi 4: 1.)

What is coming will leave proud men speechless and believing people vindicated. Everything will change.

Once again we see the tremendous relevance of Isaiah’s words. You can search for language to capture our times and find no-one who has given phrases that capture this moment better than Isaiah. Even the Lord finds his words appropriate to quote as His own. Words of inspiration, given Isaiah by the Lord, become Isaiah’s, then are taken by the Lord and used again as His. The symmetry of this chiasm is a reminder of how closely the Lord works with those He inspires. It is “His voice” even when the message comes from His servants.  Who has ears to hear? ("3 Nephi 21:8 - 9", DenverSnuffer.com, 15, July 2010)

I agree with the above commentary because, as I have testified to previously, I am a living witness, having seen with my own eyes the great and a marvelous work the Lord is performing now and I have heard with my own ears the words of Christ sent by Him and declared by a man who has been sent to declare them.

I would like to address one part of the above commentary.

Christ is quoting from Isaiah and applying the words to a specific time frame. It is post-gentile receipt of the Book of Mormon, post-delivery of that book to the remnant, and post-opportunity for gentiles to repent and know of the true points of His doctrine. When that happens, the Lord will be freed up to fulfill the covenants of the Father.

In the final Lecture in the series of Lectures the Lord commissioned to be delivered on Mormonism the following was stated; over four years after the statement from the above commentary.

Joseph Smith cautioned the saints about violating God’s trust. As Joseph put it: “His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice, must expect to feel His wrath.” 

We should expect God’s house to be ordered around only one principle: repentance. When the pride of a great organization replaces repentance, the heavens withdraw, and when they do, “Amen” to that portion of God’s house. But the restoration through Joseph will always remain, even if God chooses to order it differently before His return. It is His to do with as He determines best. 

 At the time I was excommunicated, I was in good standing with the Lord. I had nothing amiss in my personal life. There was no sin warranting church discipline. As a former member of the High             Council for years, every church disciplinary proceeding I attended that resulted in excommunication, always involved serious moral transgression, betrayal of marriage covenants, and in some cases criminal wrongdoing. In contrast, the reason for my discipline was a book I had written about church history, in which I attempted to align the events of the Restoration to the prophecies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. 

The stake president admitted to me and my wife before the Council began, that I was then worthy of a temple recommend. By any standard of moral conduct, I was an innocent man, whose only offense was believing the scriptures revealed our condition before God. On the evening of May 1, 2014, the Lord gave me further light and knowledge about His work in His vineyard. The Lord is in control over the church, men, and all things. When He undertakes to accomplish something, “there is nothing that the Lord God shall take in His heart to do, but what He will do it.” (Abr. 3: 17.) Often the means used by the Lord to accomplish His “strange act,” and to perform His “strange work”(D&C 101: 95), are very small indeed. "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." (Alma 37: 6-7.) 

It is almost always the case that the Lord uses simple things to confound the mighty. I can think of nothing smaller or simpler or less important than myself. Inside the great church to which I once belonged, I was obscure. However, I lived my religion, attended faithfully, served to the best of my ability, upheld church leaders with my prayers, paid tithes, fasted, observed the Word of Wisdom, and helped answer questions for those needing assistance with troubling issues. 

There was no reason to regard me as a rebel who should be singled out for discipline. Nevertheless, the Lord chose to use a faithful and believing member to accomplish His design. Only someone who is devoted to His will could accomplish what the Lord had in His heart. Now He has accomplished it. 

The Church has Doctrine and Covenants 121, verses 36 to 40, to warn it about abusing His authority. There is an "amen" or end to authority when control, compulsion, and dominion are exercised in any degree of unrighteousness. Therefore, when using authority, great care must be taken. In any case, the church was careless. Therefore, those involved, are now left to kick against the pricks, to persecute the Saints and to fight against God. Section 121 is a warning to church leaders. It is addressing the powerful, not the powerless. It is addressing those who occupy the seats of authority over others. Only those who claim the right to control, compel, and exercise dominion, are warned against persecuting the saints, who believe the religion and practice it as I did from the time of my conversion. My excommunication was an abuse of authority. Therefore, as soon as the decision was made, the Lord terminated the priesthood authority of the stake presidency and every member of the High Council who sustained this decision, which was unanimous. Thereafter, I appealed to the First Presidency, outlining the involvement of the 12 and the 70. The appeal gave notice to them all. 

The appeal was summarily denied. Last general conference, the entire First Presidency, the 12, the 70, and all other general authorities and auxiliaries, voted to sustain those who abused their authority in casting me out of the church. At that moment, the Lord ended all claims of the church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to claim it is led by the priesthood. 

They have not practiced what He requires. The Lord has brought about His purposes. This has been in His heart all along. He has chosen to use small means to accomplish it, but He always uses the smallest of means to fulfill His purposes. None of this was my doing. The Lord's strange act, was not, could not, be planned by me. Was not, could not, have been controlled by me. It was not anticipated by me, or even understood by me, until after the Lord had accomplished His will, and made it apparent to me on the evening of May 1, 2014. He alone has done this. He is the author of all of this. 

Just because something is true at one moment does not mean it is true at another moment. Things change, decisions matter, what we do always matters. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the same thing as it was when I joined in 1973. At this moment it is not even the same thing it was in 2012. It is in the process of changing rapidly, and will be something very different again in just a few more years. The Lord, knowing the direction the LDS Church is now headed, has acted to preserve the Restoration itself. 

This change does not affect the leadership’s legal right to preside. They are upheld by common consent, and therefore have the right still to control the direction of the organization. But it cannot be fixed, either. Any new authority will have to sustain the senior leaders now in position. I belonged for forty years to the church, and President Monson, President Packer and Elder Perry were in leadership when I joined and they are among the senior most leaders today. Adding new authorities that were not in the leadership when the Lord took these steps cannot remedy the Lord’s decision. 

If the church’s leaders continue to be upheld by the prayers of members, prayer has power and can give strength. However the action taken by the Lord frees His hand to do something further now. His house is a house of order, but since the days of Abraham God’s house has included things about which we have very little knowledge. ("Preserving the Restoration", Lecture 10, 40 Years in Mormonism, Denver Snuffer, 09 September 2014, pgs. 6 - 8)

Just as was stated above, the action the Lord took in the years leading up to May 01, 2014 "frees His hand to do something further now."

Unbeknownst to the author of the July 2010 commentary the Lord used him years later as a small and simple means, in a way the author did not understand, to free His hands to do something further to save His restoration.

God's house is a house of order, but that does not mean what you think it means. God follows patterns. He establishes and ordains things according to one pattern, and then He takes them down again according to another pattern, and He does not vary. There is no guarantee, when He establishes a house in one instance, that that house cannot rebel, reject Him, and be rejected by Him at another. Just because God undertakes one work does not mean that He cannot undertake yet another. Just because He ordains one system at one time it does not mean that, when that system becomes abusive, He will not deal with the system He ordained according to its own standards in order to bring about the result He warned about. He follows a pattern and therein is the house of order. 

When Christ came the first time, God took down a previously established hierarchy using an orderly process, informing us about His house of order. He ordained John to bring it to an end, which put him on a collision course with the hierarchy. John the Baptist was “ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord…” Joseph Smith elaborated, “The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and decree of heaven.”

For His return, we should expect something similar to His first coming. That is, an orderly take down of a competing hierarchy using someone ordained to accomplish that end that is put by God on a collision course with the targeted power structure. John’s mission required them to reject the truth and testimony he offered. It was orderly, public and required a conflict followed by rejection. In any modern take down of the LDS hierarchy the Lord will allow those involved to act freely. The hierarchy must voluntarily and clearly violate God’s standard. It must be orderly, public and the result of a conflict ordained by God’s will. This is how a house of order operates anciently and again today. ("Preserving the Restoration", Lecture 10, 40 Years in Mormonism, Denver Snuffer, 09 September 2014, pgs. 5 - 6)

I have heard it said and it is included in a quotation above, and I agree with the statement, that this great and a marvelous work the Father completes is a "strange act" for the very reasons pointed out in the July 2010 commentary and for the very reason pointed out in the above historical account; No one has ever considered or comprehended what the Father intends to do nor how He intends to do it.

Prophecy is not given so you can anticipate the details beforehand. Prophecy is only given so that after the event takes place, you can then understand the scriptures’ meaning. Only after He has acted can you understand how the Lord intended to accomplish His will and fulfill His promise. Prophecy’s purpose is not to allow you beforehand to know the events with enough specificity so that God's will could be anticipated, prevented, and frustrated. If you knew what He was up to, you could prevent it. But because you do not, when the prophecies are fulfilled, then you know the Lord has acted. God can use any means He chooses to accomplish His promises. Everything God is doing is not disclosed at the time it is underway. ("Preserving the Restoration", Lecture 10, 40 Years in Mormonism, Denver Snuffer, 09 September 2014, pg. 11)

I had stated in the post "The House of Israel Shall No More Be Confounded" that I had never considered in my wildest imaginings that the work of the continuing restoration, a great and a marvelous work, would ever proceed the way it has. Yet I am a living witness that it is unfolding in front of our eyes.

In my opinion, there are two related scriptures, words of the Prophet Joseph, that apply very much to this "great and a marvelous work" or under another name this "strange act".

I believe that it applies to what Nephi was told concerning this work being everlasting on the one hand to peace and life eternal or on the other hand to destruction and captivity both temporally and spiritually.

Pray therefore that their ears may be opened unto your cries, that I may be merciful unto them, that these things may not come upon them. What I have said unto you must needs be, that all men may be left without excuse, that wise men and rulers may hear and know that which they have never considered, that I may proceed to bring to pass my act, my strange act, and perform my work, my strange work, that men may discern between the righteous and the wicked, says your God.(D&C 101:92 - 95, T&C 101 par. 20)

If I understand it correctly, this statement from the Lord declares that His strange act will be a work that allows men to discern between the righteous and the wicked.

How is it possible to discern between the wicked and the righteous?

Is discerning different than judging?

And the whole world lies in sin and groans under darkness and under the bondage of sin, and by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me, for whoever comes not unto me is under the bondage of sin. And whoever receives not my voice is not acquainted with my voice and is not of me. And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groans under sin and darkness, even now. (D&C 84:49 - 53, T&C 82 par. 19)

Is the above given by the Lord for me to discern others or is it given by the Lord for me to be able to discern myself?

Is the Lord able to discern the wicked from the righteous by whether they heed His words or not?

Should I be asking myself if I have received His voice?

Am I acquainted with His voice?

Is it possible that by hearing and heeding a message from a true servant of God I am receiving and acquainting myself with God's voice?

Is it possible that the Lord, during His mortal sojourn, addressed this great and a marvelous work with the following parable?

And now truly I say these things unto you that you may know this: that the coming of the Lord is as a thief in the night. And it is like unto a man who is a householder who, if he watches not his goods, the thief comes in an hour of which he is not aware, and takes his goods, and divides them among his fellows. And they said among themselves, If the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not have suffered his house to be broken through and the loss of his goods. And he says unto them, Truly I say unto you, be therefore ready also, for the Son of Man comes at an hour when you think not. (Luke 12:39 - 40, NC Luke 8 par. 26)

Is it possible to allow tradition to keep us from watching or being ready for this great and a marvelous work?

Is it possible that by heeding false and flattering teachings that we find ourselves not ready to receive the great and a marvelous work when it appears because it makes us uncomfortable and it is inconvenient just like a thief coming in the night?

What if this is the hour when everyone thinks not that this great and a marvelous work has appeared on the earth?

I testify that it is this very hour that this great and a marvelous work has appeared on the earth.  

The time of prophecy concerning the Lord fulfilling His promises to the ancient Fathers is upon us.

It is a strange act indeed; a work that will eventually separate on the one hand or on the other.

Wherefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hidden ourselves — therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believes shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goes forth, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night. And it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, he shall be angry as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. Now therefore, be not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth. (Isaiah 28:14 - 22, OC Isaiah 8 par. 4)

There are those who would declare that such a work is not underway because they profit off of the Lord's words and make merchandise of people's souls.  They trust that they have built up a hedge around themselves that cannot be broken down by world events and they employ professional soothsayers to lead them into covenants with death and hell in an attempt to avoid any overflowing scourge.  They hide these actions with their lies and falsehoods considering that they are "lying for the Lord".

Isaiah declares that it shall all come to naught because the Lord intends to complete His strange act, His great and a marvelous work.

Isaiah implores us to be not mockers of the Lord's strange act "lest your bands be made strong" or in other words we be brought down into captivity and destruction both temporally and spiritually according to the captivity of the Devil.

Woe Be Unto the Gentiles

 1 Nephi 14:5 - 7, NC 1 Nephi 3 par. 26

And it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Nephi, saying, Thou hast beheld that if the gentiles repent, it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel. And thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. Therefore, woe be unto the gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God. For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the Devil of which I have spoken.

The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim, 1 Nefi 3 par. 26

And it came to pass that the angel spoke unto me, Nefi, saying, You have beheld that if the Goyim repent, it shall be well with them; and you also know concerning the covenants of yhwh unto the house of Isra’el. And you also have heard that whoever repents not must perish. Therefore, woe be unto the Goyim if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of Elohim. For the time comes, says the Lamb of Elohim, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men, a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other, either to the convincing of them unto shalom and life Eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds, unto their being brought down into captivity and also unto destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of HaSatan of which I have spoken.

In the scriptures the Lord pronounces "woe" upon people and nations at certain times.

What does that term "woe" mean?

Why would the Lord at one point pronounce a single "woe" and at other times pronounce a double or even a triple "woe"?

Should we take notice of this?

The following is from the Glossary of Terms in the appendix of the Teachings and Commandments.

When one “woe” is pronounced upon a people, it is a warning of condemnation in this life. It is more concerning when three “woes” are pronounced upon a people — the connotation being a condemnation that will last beyond this life and into eternity.  A three-fold condemnation goes beyond this life and will follow those to whom they apply into the hereafter. A three-fold woe is pronounced by a power that cannot be altered.

Nephi is pronouncing a single woe at this point upon the gentiles who will harden their hearts against the Lamb of God.

What does that mean for these gentiles?

How is that related to what Nephi talks about further on here about being brought down into captivity and destruction both temporally and spiritually?

Can we detect a scriptural pattern at this point?

Following Nephi's description of the blessings that the gentiles will receive if they hearken to the Lamb of God and repent, Nephi now gives a description of the cursing that the gentiles will receive if they do not hearken to the Lamb of God and repent.

Does such a manner of pointing things out happen like this in other places in scripture?

How about the admonition given by Moses to the Israelites before they crossed into Jordan?

And it shall come to pass, if you shall listen diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high, above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen unto the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your basket and your store. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.  The Lord shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be smitten before your face. They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and in all that you set your hand unto, and he shall bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you. The Lord shall establish you a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn unto you, if you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord shall make you plenteous in goods, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers to give you. The Lord shall open unto you his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto your land in his season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall lend unto many nations, and you shall not borrow. And the Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath, if you listen unto the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, to observe and to do them. And you shall not go aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods, to serve them.  But it shall come to pass if you will not listen unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your store. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke in all that you set your hand unto in order to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings whereby you have forsaken me. The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto you until he has consumed you from off the land to which you go to possess it. The Lord shall smite you with a wasting disease, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. And your heaven that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. The Lord shall make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon you until you are destroyed.  The Lord shall cause you to be smitten before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them, and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. And your carcass shall be food unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall frighten them away.  The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof you cannot be healed. The Lord shall smite you with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart. And you shall grope at noonday as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways, and you shall be only oppressed and spoiled for ever, and no man shall save you. You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein. You shall plant a vineyard, and shall not gather the grapes thereof. Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat thereof. Your ass shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given unto your enemies, and you shall have none to rescue them. Your sons and your daughters shall be given unto another people, and your eyes shall look and fail with longing for them all the day long, and there shall be no might in your hand. The fruit of your land, and all your labors, shall a nation which you know not eat up. And you shall be only oppressed and crushed always, so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. The Lord shall smite you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot unto the top of your head. The Lord shall bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, unto a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known; and there shall you serve other gods, wood and stone. And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord shall lead you.  You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olive shall cast his fruit. You shall beget sons and daughters, but you shall not enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity. All your trees and fruit of your land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within you shall get up above you, very high, and you shall come down very low. He shall lend to you and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head and you shall be the tail.  Because you served not the Lord your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart for the abundance of all things, therefore shall you serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in lack of all things. And he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck until he has destroyed you.  The Lord shall bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young. And he shall eat the fruit of your cattle and the fruit of your land until you are destroyed — which also shall not leave you either grain, wine, or oil, or the increase of your cattle or flocks of your sheep, until he has destroyed you. And he shall besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls come down, wherein you trusted, throughout all your land. And he shall besiege you in all your gates, throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you. And you shall eat the fruit of your own body — the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom the Lord your God has given you — in the siege and in the confinement by which your enemies shall distress you. So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he shall leave, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him in the siege and in the confinement by which your enemies shall distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, and toward her young one that comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for lack of all things, secretly, in the siege and confinement by which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.  If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book — that you may fear this glorious and fearful name: the lord your god — then the Lord will make your plagues extraordinary, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues of long continuance, and severe sicknesses of long continuance. Moreover, he will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt which you were afraid of, and they shall cleave unto you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon you, until you are destroyed. And you shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven for multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and to bring you to naught. And you shall be plucked from off the land to which you go to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other, and there you shall serve other gods which neither you nor your fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shall you find no ease, neither shall the sole of your foot have rest, but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And your life shall hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear day and night, and shall have none assurance of your life. In the morning, you shall say, Would to God it were evening. And at evening, you shall say, Would to God it were morning — for the fear of your heart with which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. And the Lord shall bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spoke unto you, You shall see it no more again; and there you shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy you. (Deuteronomy 28:1 - 68, OC Deuteronomy 8 pars. 4 - 13)

Is the Lord pretty specific in the words of His promise and the words of His curse to the children of Israel here?

In Fact how did Moses succinctly divide the words of the promises and the words of the curses?

See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that you may live and multiply. And the Lord your God shall bless you in the land into which you go to possess it. But if your heart turn away, so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I declare unto you this day that you shall surely perish, and that you shall not prolong your days upon the land to which you passed over Jordan to go to possess it. I call Heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the Lord your God, and that you may obey his voice, and that you may cleave unto him; for he is your life and the length of your days that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore unto your fathers — to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob — to give them. (Deuteronomy 30:15 - 20, OC Deuteronomy 9 par. 7)

Was there any way that any one of the children of Israel might be able to say that they did not understand both the promises the Lord had made that would result from their obedience to Him and the cursing they would experience if they were not obedient to Him?

Was He serious about His words of promise and of cursing?

Did the children of Israel experience, at different times, the promises when they were obedient to the Lord and the curses when they went whoring after other gods?

What about the words of the Lord to the saints in Nauvoo?

Did the words of the Lord come in the same pattern?

And verily I say unto you, let this house be built unto my name that I may reveal my ordinances therein unto my people, for I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the dispensation of the fullness of times. And I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining to this house and the Priesthood thereof, and the place whereon it shall be built. And you shall build it on the place where you have contemplated building it, for that is the spot which I have chosen for you to build it. If you labor with all your mights, I will consecrate that spot that it shall be made holy. And if my people will hearken unto my voice and unto the voice of my servants whom I have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not be moved out of their place.  But if they will not hearken to my voice, nor unto the voice of these men whom I have appointed, they shall not be blessed, because they pollute my holy grounds, and my holy ordinances and charters, and my holy words which I give unto them. And it shall come to pass that if you build a house unto my name and do not do the things that I say, I will not perform the oath which I make unto you, neither fulfill the promises which you expect at my hands, says the Lord. For instead of blessings, you, by your own works, bring cursings, wrath, indignation, and judgments upon your own heads, by your follies and by all your abominations which you practice before me, says the Lord. (D&C 124:40 - 48, T&C 141 pars. 13 - 14)

Were there blessings pronounced by the Lord based upon obedience to His words and was there cursings pronounced by the Lord upon disobedience to His words?

Was the Lord serious about His words?

If we look honestly at history, were the blessings received or were the cursings received?

Were Joseph and Hyrum and the people not moved out of their place?

Did the Lord make the spot of the temple holy and protect it?

What about individually to the Prophet Joseph?

At length the time arrived for obtaining the plates, the Urim and Thummim, and the breastplate. On the twenty-second day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, having went as usual at the end of another year to the place where they were deposited, the same Heavenly messenger delivered them up to me with this charge: that I should be responsible for them; that if I should let them go carelessly or through any neglect of mine I should be cut off; but that if I would use all my endeavors to preserve them until he (the messenger) should call for them, they should be protected. (Joseph Smith History 1:59, T&C Section 1, Joseph Smith History, Part 6, par. 1)

Did Joseph also receive both a promised blessing or a promised cursing based upon his obedience to the word of the Lord through the angel Nephi concerning Joseph's need to be diligent in protecting the gold plates?

Was the Lord serious about His words?

Did Joseph receive the promised blessing or the promised curse?

What about the Lord's words to Cain?

Now Satan knew this and it pleased him, and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your countenance fallen? If you do well, shall you not be accepted? And if you do not well, sin lies at the door. And Satan desires to have you, and except you shall listen unto my commandments, I will deliver you up and it shall be unto you according to his desire. And you shall rule over him, for from this time forth you shall be the father of his lies. You shall be called Perdition, for you were also before the world. And it shall be said in times to come that these abominations were had from Cain, for he rejected the greater counsel which was had from God. And this is a cursing which I will put upon you except you repent. And Cain was angry and listened not anymore to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord. And Adam also and his wife mourned before the Lord because of Cain and his brethren. (Moses 5:21 - 27, OC Genesis 3 par. 8)

Was the Lord serious about these words to Cain?

Did these words contain both a positive promise and a negative curse based upon obedience or disobedience to the Lord?

Did Cain receive the promise or the curse?

What about the promise of the Lord to Lehi and his posterity?

Wherefore, I, Lehi, have obtained a promise that inasmuch as those whom the Lord God shall bring out of the land of Jerusalem shall keep his commandments, they shall prosper upon the face of this land; and they shall be kept from all other nations, that they may possess this land unto themselves. And if it so be that they shall keep his commandments, they shall be blessed upon the face of this land, and there shall be none to molest them nor to take away the land of their inheritance, and they shall dwell safely for ever. But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord, having a knowledge of the creation of the earth and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world, having power given them to do all things by faith, having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise, behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them. Yea, he will bring other nations unto them, and he will give unto them power, and he will take away from them the lands of their possessions, and he will cause them to be scattered and smitten. Yea, as one generation passeth to another, there shall be bloodsheds and great visitations among them. (2 Nephi 1:9 - 12, NC 2 Nephi 1 par. 2)

Was there both a promised blessing and a promised cursing in the promise the Lord gave to Lehi concerning the promised land as an inheritance?

Was the Lord serious about His words in the promise that He gave to Lehi?

Did the Lord fulfill His words to Lehi based upon the faithfulness of his posterity on the one hand and the eventual disobedience and dwindling on the other hand?

What about the Lords modern words to a contemporary group of people?

Now, hear the words of the Lord to those who receive this covenant this day:

All you who have turned from your wicked ways and repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms, and of secret abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying, and strife, and from all wickedness and abominations, and have come unto me, and been baptized in my name, and have received a remission of your sins, and received the holy ghost, are now numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel. I say to you:

Teach your children to honor me. Seek to recover the lost sheep remnant of this land and of Israel and no longer forsake them. Bring them unto me and teach them of my ways, to walk in them.  And I, the Lord your God, will be with you and will never forsake you, and I will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the troubling season now fast approaching.  I will raise you up and protect you, abide with you, and gather you in due time, and this shall be a land of promise to you as your inheritance from me.  The earth will yield its increase, and you will flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills, and the wicked will not come against you because the fear of the Lord will be with you.  I will visit my house, which the remnant of my people shall build, and I will dwell therein, to be among you, and no one will need to say, Know ye the Lord, for you all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.  I will teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world and your understanding will reach unto Heaven.  And you shall be called the children of the Most High God, and I will preserve you against the harvest. And the angels sent to harvest the world will gather the wicked into bundles to be burned, but will pass over you as my peculiar treasure.  But if you do not honor me, nor seek to recover my people Israel, nor teach your children to honor me, nor care for the poor among you, nor help lighten one another’s burdens, then you have no promise from me and I will raise up other people who will honor and serve me, and give unto them this land, and if they repent, I will abide with them. (Teachings and Commandments 158 pars. 9 - 19) 

Did the Lord extend promised blessings based upon obedience to His words here?

Did the Lord mention cursing here?

Is the Lord serious about His words here?

Why would the Lord, in addition to extending promises to individuals and nations, also promise cursings?

Isn't that being negative?

Are the Lord's words always positive?

Consider the following.

The Doctrine of Christ requires that we repent and be baptized. This is the sign He asks to demonstrate faith in Him. Faith requires action or it dwindles away and is lost. 

The importance to the Lord that we act on His Doctrine cannot be overstated. Repentance and baptism are directly related to salvation and cannot be left undone. Christ declared His Doctrine in 3 Ne. 11:32-40. His Doctrine came from His Father and mentions “baptism” four times. Only the first mention is positive, the three subsequent times it is negative:

 First: “…whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.” 

Second: “And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.” 

Third: “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.” 

Fourth: “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.” 

This is a 3 to 1 ratio of negative warning to positive promise. I do not believe the Lord or His Father are negative. This approach is more a reflection on us than on Them. God is extraordinarily positive. But we need the clarity of being told the downside, and to be warned, because, unfortunately, a positive promise does not adequately motivate us. ("The Doctrine of Christ", Denver Snuffer, September 2016, pg. 1)

If we are not adequately motivated by a positive promise, should we expect to see negative words in the messages God sends?

Because Nephi is explaining in this part of his vision both the promised blessings upon the gentiles who will hearken to the words of the Lamb of God and the promised cursings upon the gentiles if they will not hearken to the words of the Lamb of God can we determine that he is speaking the words of the Lord because he is following the pattern the Lord uses to extend both blessings and cursings?

If I consider that the Lord will only speak positive things am I correct in my thinking?

In the previous post I testified that a man had been sent with a message to declare that God is beginning a great and a marvelous work.  

The message contains both hope, through repentance and obedience to the Lord, and warnings of the resultant consequences of disregarding the message God has sent.

Is it possible that because the message that has been sent is constructed in that way (ie. the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand) that that is a further sign that it is a message from God, because it fits the pattern of scripture?

The House of Israel Shall No More Be Confounded

 1 Nephi 14:1 - 4, NC 1 Nephi 3 par. 25

And it shall come to pass that if the gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, and harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father. Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land for ever. They shall be no more brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded. And that great pit which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church — which was founded by the Devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell — yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God, not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. For behold, this is according to the captivity of the Devil, and also according to the justice of God, upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before him.

The Stick of Joseph in the Hand of Ephraim, 1 Nefi 3 par. 25

And it shall come to pass that if the Goyim shall hearken unto the Lamb of Elohim in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, and harden not their hearts against the Lamb of Elohim, they shall be numbered among the seed of your father. Yes, they shall be numbered among the house of Isra’el; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land for ever. They shall be no more brought down into captivity, and the house of Isra’el shall no more be confounded. And that great pit which has been dug for them by that great and abominable church — which was founded by HaSatan and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to Gehinnom — yes, that great pit which has been dug for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who dug it, unto their utter destruction, says the Lamb of Elohim, not the destruction of the soul, except it be the casting of it into that Gehinnom which has no end. For behold, this is according to the captivity of HaSatan, and also according to the justice of Elohim, upon all those who will work wickedness and abomination before him.

I would like to do things a bit differently in this post.

I know that my grammar is bad and that I am long winded but I want to witness to some things in this post. 

I want to give some context with a preface statement.

My present understanding of current world history is that I have received the great blessing of living in a time when the Father has decided that He will vindicate His promises to the early ancient Fathers concerning the restoration of all things that were had in the beginning with Adam.  

At this point in Nephi's vision I believe Nephi is seeing what is happening now.  That is what I want to witness of today.

I began this blog with a certain audience in mind.  

This witness is for them.  

This witness is most certainly not meant to be a condemnation of them.  I love them with all my heart.  They have been patient and loving to me all my life.  I hope and pray for nothing but happiness and joy for them.

As weak as this witness will be I hope that maybe this witness will spark a curiosity to look into the matter.

I have considered that my originally intended audience would view anything that I would express with great skepticism at best.  I have hoped that at some point they would read what I am expressing and use their skepticism and probable disagreement to fuel their own serious study of the Book of Mormon in order to correct what they may view as my misunderstanding. 

In my mind that would be a wonderful thing.

I don't believe that any serious and honest study of the Book of Mormon, especially one to prove me wrong, will result in anything but good.  

The Book of Mormon stands on its own.  It doesn't need any institutional belonging or scholarly interpretation to introduce power into the lives of honest seekers of truth.  

If the Book of Mormon is scripture, and I believe it is, then no one but God may claim ownership of it.  If it is God's then They give it freely to the world for the benefit of the world and any group or institution who would profit off of it by claiming ownership of it is mocking God.

My own opinion is that it is institutional and scholarly interpretation of the Book of Mormon by those who claim ownership of the Book of Mormon that has done the most damage to the ability of honest truth seekers to use the Book of Mormon for its intended purpose.

If one accepts the Book of Mormon as independent scripture, free of any institutional and scholarly encumbrance, and then begins to put in practice, according to their own present understanding of it, what the book teaches, they will find that it will become an ever increasing well of light and understanding.

My experience is that it is possible to come to see that the Book of Mormon is true scripture because of what is in its message not because of any type of exterior historical or DNA or archeological evidences. 

No one, especially not me, has any right to tell any other person how they must understand the message of the Book of Mormon; only God has a right to do so.

With that I begin my witness.

 And it shall come to pass that if the gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, and harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father. Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land for ever. They shall be no more brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded.

I give my living eyewitness account that what Nephi declares here in his vision has begun, is happening now, and will continue as long as a group, no matter how small, of gentiles continues to repent and seek the Lord to cooperate and work with Him in His work to re-establish His house Israel.

On September 10th 2013 a series of 10 lectures was begun. The lectures laid out in plain clear communication the principles of Mormonism restored by the Prophet Joseph Smith.

I personally attended two of the lectures and listened to and studied them all.  

The message of the lectures convinced me that God was sending this message.  God was inviting people to repent or in other words to turn and face Them by remembering what They had restored through the Prophet Joseph; much of which had been lost.

The message of the lectures taught of faith, what that really means, and re-enthroned the Lectures on Faith, that had been discarded by a committee, as scripture and the mind and will of God.

The message of the lectures taught of repentance, what that really means, and how it is inextricably connected to receiving knowledge from heaven instead of the guilt ridden penance culture we have received.

The message of the lectures taught of covenants in the scriptures that God made with ancient Fathers which remain in play today and how God intends to vindicate those promises as well as what priesthood really is, an association with angels and God (the powers of Heaven).

The message of the lectures taught that we have no concept of Zion, what God intends to bring about; that we must repent, or in other words turn to God and receive knowledge and understanding from Them to be able to dwell in such a place.

The message of the lectures taught of the true nature of Christ, His calling and becoming the Son of God.  It taught of becoming meek and lowly in heart like the brother of Jared.

The message of the lectures taught of marriage that is approved of God, how it should reflect all that is beautiful, lovely, of good report, filled with love, filled with light, enlightened by knowledge, all things that God wants to preserve into the eternities.  The message taught that polygamy has always been and is and ever will be an abomination to God.

Then in the final lecture the message or invitation to remember became an even greater invitation to action in order to preserve the restoration that has been decaying ever faster since June 27th 1844 the day Joseph and Hyrum were murdered at Carthage Jail.

In the final lecture God renewed the command to be baptized because God was beginning a new work because the initial work started by the Prophet Joseph had decayed through four generations to the point where God ceased to work with that group.

A great deal is made of Joseph's first vision and nothing made of his last one. I want to turn to his last one, given on the morning of the martyrdom. This is Joseph's last vision, taken from The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, beginning on page 393. Joseph spoke it, but was not alive when it was written down. It was recorded and recounted by someone else, and I am not sure they got everything right in the way they recounted it, but nevertheless, this is the best source we have of Joseph’s last vision. It is good enough, even if a point or two were not well understood. This is Joseph speaking: 

"I was back in Kirtland, Ohio, and thought I would take a walk out by myself, and view my old farm, which I found grown up with weeds and brambles, and altogether bearing evidence of neglect and want of culture. I went into the barn, which I found without floor or doors, with the weather-boarding off, and was altogether in keeping with the farm. While I viewed the desolation around me, and was contemplating how it might be recovered from the curse upon it, there came rushing into the barn a company of furious men, who commenced to pick a quarrel with me. The leader of the party ordered me to leave the barn and farm, stating it was none of mine, and that I must give up all hope of ever possessing it. I told him the farm was given me by the Church, and although I had not had any use of it for some time back, still I had not sold it, and according to righteous principles it belonged to me or the Church. He then grew furious and began to rail upon me, and threaten me, and said it never did belong to me nor to the Church. I then told him that I did not think it worth contending about, that I had no desire to live upon it in its present state, and if he thought he had a better right I would not quarrel with him about it but leave; but my assurance that I would not trouble him at present did not seem to satisfy him, as he seemed determined to quarrel with me, and threatened me with the destruction of my body. While he was thus engaged, pouring out his bitter words upon me, a rabble rushed in and nearly filled the barn, drew out their knives, and began to quarrel among themselves for the premises, and for a moment forgot me, at which time I took the opportunity to walk out of the barn about up to my ankles in mud. When I was a little distance from the barn, I heard them screeching and screaming in a very distressed manner, as it appeared they had engaged in a general fight with their knives. While they were thus engaged, the dream or vision ended."

Joseph did not live long enough after receiving this vision to comment on it or provide an interpretation. But I can tell you if "the farm" is the church he established, that today, Joseph would have no welcoming arm within it. It would suffer from such a curse in its present state that they would quarrel with him, and tell him to leave if he came among the church today. I believe that the farm in the last vision was a symbol for what the church has become. 

God's house is a house of order, but that does not mean what you think it means. God follows patterns. He establishes and ordains things according to one pattern, and then He takes them down again according to another pattern, and He does not vary. There is no guarantee, when He establishes a house in one instance, that that house cannot rebel, reject Him, and be rejected by Him at another. Just because God undertakes one work does not mean that He cannot undertake yet another.  Just because He ordains one system at one time it does not mean that, when that system becomes abusive, He will not deal with the system He ordained according to its own standards in order to bring about the result He warned about. He follows a pattern and therein is the house of order. 

When Christ came the first time, God took down a previously established hierarchy using an orderly process, informing us about His house of order. He ordained John to bring it to an end, which put him on a collision course with the hierarchy. John the Baptist was “ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord…” Joseph Smith elaborated, “The son of Zacharias wrested the keys, the kingdom, the power, the glory from the Jews, by the holy anointing and decree of heaven.”

For His return, we should expect something similar to His first coming. That is, an orderly take down of a competing hierarchy using someone ordained to accomplish that end that is put by God on a collision course with the targeted power structure. John’s mission required them to reject the truth and testimony  he offered. It was orderly, public and required a conflict followed by rejection. In any modern take down of the LDS hierarchy the Lord will allow those involved to act freely. The hierarchy must voluntarily and clearly violate God’s standard. It must be orderly, public and the result of a conflict ordained by God’s will. This is how a house of order operates anciently and again today. 

The Book of Mormon is more prophecy than history. Before the Lord’s appearance to the Nephites, society broke down into tribes consisting of family and friends. Immediately before the Lord’s return we should expect something similar. Therefore, part of the preparation by God’s house for coming social chaos is likely to include some preliminary preparations by families and friends to fellowship with one another in local gatherings, perhaps completely apart from control by the LDS hierarchy. Only by independently functioning can they hope to prepare for social chaos prophesied to accompany Zion and precede the Lord’s return. There will also be indigenous prophet-led people coming through God’s assistance to Zion. 

Joseph Smith cautioned the saints about violating God’s trust. As Joseph put it: “His word will go forth, in these last days, in purity; for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; for His work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear His voice, must expect to feel His wrath.” We should expect God’s house to be ordered around only one principle: repentance. When the pride of a great organization replaces repentance, the heavens withdraw, and when they do, “Amen” to that portion of God’s house. But the restoration through Joseph will always remain, even if God chooses to order it differently before His return. It is His to do with as He determines best. 

At the time I was excommunicated, I was in good standing with the Lord. I had nothing amiss in my personal life. There was no sin warranting church discipline. As a former member of the High Council for years, every church disciplinary proceeding I attended that resulted in excommunication, always involved serious moral transgression, betrayal of marriage covenants, and in some cases criminal wrongdoing. In contrast, the reason for my discipline was a book I had written about church history, in which I attempted to align the events of the Restoration to the prophecies of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. The stake president admitted to me and my wife before the Council began, that I was then worthy of a temple recommend. By any standard of moral conduct, I was an innocent man, whose only offense was believing the scriptures revealed our condition before God. On the evening of May 1, 2014, the Lord gave me further light and knowledge about His work in His vineyard. The Lord is in control over the church, men, and all things. When He undertakes to accomplish something, “there is nothing that the Lord God shall take in His heart to do, but what He will do it.” (Abr. 3: 17.) Often the means used by the Lord to accomplish His “strange act,” and to perform His “strange work”(D&C 101: 95), are very small indeed. "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise. And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls." (Alma 37: 6-7.) 

It is almost always the case that the Lord uses simple things to confound the mighty. I can think of nothing smaller or simpler or less important than myself. Inside the great church to which I once belonged, I was obscure. However, I lived my religion, attended faithfully, served to the best of my ability, upheld church leaders with my prayers, paid tithes, fasted, observed the Word of Wisdom, and helped answer questions for those needing assistance with troubling issues. There was no reason to regard me as a rebel who should be singled out for discipline. Nevertheless, the Lord chose to use a faithful and believing member to accomplish His design. Only someone who is devoted to His will could accomplish what the Lord had in His heart. Now He has accomplished it. 

The Church has Doctrine and Covenants 121, verses 36 to 40, to warn it about abusing His authority. There is an "amen" or end to authority when control, compulsion, and dominion are exercised in any degree of unrighteousness. Therefore, when using authority, great care must be taken. In any case, the church was careless. Therefore, those involved, are now left to kick against the pricks, to persecute the Saints and to fight against God. 

Section 121 is a warning to church leaders. It is addressing the powerful, not the powerless. It is addressing those who occupy the seats of authority over others. Only those who claim the right to control, compel, and exercise dominion, are warned against persecuting the saints, who believe the religion and practice it as I did from the time of my conversion. My excommunication was an abuse of authority. Therefore, as soon as the decision was made, the Lord terminated the priesthood authority of the stake presidency and every member of the High Council who sustained this decision, which was unanimous. Thereafter, I appealed to the First Presidency, outlining the involvement of the 12 and the 70. The appeal gave notice to them all. The appeal was summarily denied. 

Last general conference, the entire First Presidency, the 12, the 70, and all other general authorities and auxiliaries, voted to sustain those who abused their authority in casting me out of the church. At that moment, the Lord ended all claims of the church of  Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to claim it is led by the priesthood. They have not practiced what He requires. The Lord has brought about His purposes. This has been in His heart all along. He has chosen to use small means to accomplish it, but He always uses the smallest of means to fulfill His purposes. 

None of this was my doing. The Lord's strange act, was not, could not, be planned by me. Was not, could not, have been controlled by me. It was not anticipated by me, or even understood by me, until after the Lord had accomplished His will, and made it apparent to me on the evening of May 1, 2014. He alone has done this. He is the author of all of this.

Just because something is true at one moment does not mean it is true at another moment. Things change, decisions matter, what we do always matters. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the same thing as it was when I joined in 1973. At this moment it is not even the same thing it was in 2012. It is in the process of changing rapidly, and will be something very different again in just a few more years. The Lord, knowing the direction the LDS Church is now headed, has acted to preserve the Restoration itself. This change does not affect the leadership’s legal right to preside. They are upheld by common consent, and therefore have the right still to control the direction of the organization. But it cannot be fixed, either. Any new authority will have to sustain the senior leaders now in position. I belonged for forty years to the church, and President Monson, President Packer and Elder Perry were in leadership when I joined and they are among the senior most leaders today. Adding new authorities that were not in the leadership when the Lord took these steps cannot remedy the Lord’s decision. ("Preserving The Restoration", Denver Snuffer 9-9-14 Lecture 10 Mesa, AZ, pgs. 5 - 8)

In this 10th lecture the following command was given from God.

I would recommend if at all possible that water for a living ordinance be performed in living water. I would not perform this in a font constructed by man, I would use the things God created. You are trying to connect to God. Use what He created. I recognize that there may be circumstances where that becomes impossible. I have been baptized twice. Once in the Atlantic and once in a stream in the Little Cottonwood Canyon. Both times it was so cold my lips were blue. I recognize that some of you hardy people may not want to experience a baptism that invigorates you to the point of turning your lips blue, but I would recommend when you go stand in the water that it be living water.

"…and in my name shall ye baptize them. And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them by name, saying: Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen." 

When I was baptized into the LDS Church, the baptismal prayer was, "Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name of the Father..." When I was rebaptized, I was rebaptized by one who had authority from Christ, therefore, in that baptisms the words were, "Having authority given me of Jesus Christ…" If all you are going to do is baptize someone again according to the LDS pattern, with the commission in the Church, do not bother doing it. But if you follow these principles, and if the Spirit empowers you to baptize, then baptize having authority from Christ and follow His words. We have deviated long enough. It is time to return.  

"And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out of the water. And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name; for behold, verily I say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one. And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize."

I am telling you in the name of the Lord that commandment is renewed again by Him today, to you. ("Preserving The Restoration", Denver Snuffer 9-9-14 Lecture 10 Mesa, AZ, pgs. 17 - 18)

This command was stunning to me.

I remember how the words of the next part of the lecture affected me when I heard this part read from 3rd Nephi.

All of Israel will receive this witness that His work has commenced. "And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them. But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause him to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ…" ("Preserving The Restoration", Denver Snuffer 9-9-14 Lecture 10 Mesa, AZ, pg. 24)

I understand that I don't know exactly what Joseph felt when he read in James in the Bible before the first vision but as I look around in scripture I can't find anything that better describes how this reading of the above verse affected me at that time that I heard it being read during the tenth lecture.

Never did any passage of scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, (JSH 1:10 - 14, T&C 1, Joseph Smith History, Part 2 par. 3)

The words of this verse entered into my heart with great force and I had the words come to my mind that this prophecy was being fulfilled now in my eyes.  

A man was sent to declare that the Father was commencing a great and a marvelous work among men and the man sent to declare these tidings was a servant of the Father.  I have reflected upon this again and again and I continue to be amazed that I am allowed to live in such a day.

A group of us who met together as a fellowship for the first time on September 21, 2014, following the instructions the Lord had revealed in the 10th lecture, had seven women present sustain those men who so desired to be sustained to act in the fellowship, which extended outside of their families, to administer the ordinances of the sacrament and baptism to the entire fellowship whenever they were called upon to do so.

Following the get together we met together at a place along the Santa Clara river and we were all rebaptized to show that we recognized and desired to follow the work the Lord was now engaged in to restore Israel and vindicate His promises to the ancient Fathers.

I received a witness that my act of accepting rebaptism was acceptable to God by the following sign.

Following the baptisms of Joseph and Oliver in the Susquehanna river they declared the following,

Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of. (JSH 1:74, T&C 1, Joseph Smith History, Part 14, par. 4) 

That same action happened to me. 

Following my rebaptism the scriptures began to be opened up to me and meanings, intentions, and mysterious passages began to be revealed to me in a manner that I could never before attain to previously and things I had never before thought of were communicated to my mind.

Further on in time, a couple of years later, when we reflected back about that moment when we as a group were rebaptized for the first time we realized that these actions we had taken were completed on the day of the Autumn Equinox 2014.

In 1832 the Lord declared the following to the members of the Church founded by the Prophet Joseph.

And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received, which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation rests upon the children of Zion, even all, and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon, and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say but to do according to that which I have written, that they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom. Otherwise, there remains a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion, for shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, verily I say unto you, nay. (D&C 84:54 - 59, T&C 82 par. 20)

As I understand it at the time Joseph had also been commanded by the Lord to make a "translation" of the Bible, which was termed a "fullness of the scriptures"

The Prophet Joseph said the following concerning this fullness of the scriptures.

God had often sealed up the Heavens because of covetousness in the church. Said the  Lord would cut his work short in righteousness and except the church receive the fullness of the scriptures they would yet fall. (JSP, Documents Vol 2: July 1831 – January 1833, p. 85.)

The fullness of the scriptures was never fully published, the Book of Mormon was ignored for the most part, scripture was removed from the scripture cannon by the removal of the Lectures on Faith, and even the revelations that Joseph received were not faithfully recorded and many were amended by other people including Oliver Cowdrey.

It wasn't until December of 2016 that a small group of people involved in this movement came together after they had already begun to seek to recover the scriptures. (the fullness of the scriptures as completed by Joseph, as correct as possible the Book of Mormon, the original revelations given to Joseph without the uninspired additions and subtractions, the Lectures on Faith, and new revelations the Lord had sent since He began His strange act) 

In early 2017 the Lord revealed "The Testimony of St. John" restoring more light and fulfilling His words to the Prophet Joseph as follows.

I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest. And John saw and bore record of the fullness of my glory, and the fullness of John’s record is hereafter to be revealed. And he bore record saying, I saw his glory, that he was in the beginning, before the world was. Therefore, in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the Messenger of Salvation, the Light and the Redeemer of the world, the Spirit of Truth, who came into the world because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds were made by him. Men were made by him. All things were made by him, and through him, and of him.(D&C 93:5 - 10, T&C 93 par. 2)

By July of 2017 this divinely assisted effort to reclaim the scriptures to as original a state as possible yielded fruit. 

In July 2017 the Lord revealed a prayer for the acceptance of this scripture project and He also revealed His answer of accepting the effort to repent by seeking to reclaim the scriptures and come out from under the condemnation that He had declared in 1832. God also presented a covenant to be extended to repentant gentiles.

I am a living witness to these events.  I have seen them unfold before my eyes.

I have been allowed by God to participate in these events.

On September 2, 2017 I was privileged to be in attendance with a group of gentiles numbering in the hundreds in Boise, Idaho who for the first time in history stood and accepted the Book of Mormon as scripture to govern ourselves in our daily walk in life.

By formally accepting the Book of Mormon as scripture to govern ourselves for the first time in history, repentant gentiles qualified to receive the new covenant the next day.

On September 3, 2017, also in Boise, Idaho I was privileged with other gentiles in attendance at the Egyptian Theater and around the world joining in live, to accept a new covenant God extended for any and all repentant gentiles.

During the conference the following was shared previous to the ordination of the covenant.

 Entering into the covenant offered by the Lord today does not mean there is a church or organization to be joined, it only means that you affirm that you will accept and abide the terms set by the Lord for being one of His people. 

You can be one of his covenant people and also hold membership in any church of your choosing. However, the covenant imposes the responsibility to help others who also accept the covenant, to regard them also as the Lord’s, to honor God, seek to recover Israel, teach children to honor God, care for the poor among God’s people, and to help lighten the burdens of others. None of those responsibilities involve establishing or joining an institution. 

The words of the covenant require us to have left behind the destructive and vile practices of the world. It reads in part, “All you who have turned from your wicked ways and repented of your evil doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms, and of secret abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying and strife, and from all wickedness and abominations, and have come unto me, and been baptized in my name, and received a remission of your sins, and received the Holy Ghost, are now numbered with my people who of the house of Israel.” Those enumerated vile and destructive things must end among us today. 

We are all equal. We all accept the Book of Mormon as a covenant for us to be numbered among the Lord's covenant people. This land in particular, is a land of promise to those who serve the God of this land, who is Jesus Christ. (Ether 2:12.) The time is coming when those who are not the Lord’s people will be swept off this land. 

I have been given authority from God to deliver His covenant this day. Every formality required from the days of Adam until now for establishing a covenant has been kept and met. Once the covenant is established, those sustained by seven women (or a man inside his own family) who receive it also have authority to administer the ordinance to others who want to be numbered among God’s people. To administer to others, repeat the ordinance. Read aloud the Lord’s Answer and the words of the Covenant. Ask them to stand and say, Yes, and they will become one of the Lord's covenant people. Do not change the words of the covenant, for to change an ordinance is to break it. (Isa. 24:5.) (Boise Conference Address (Opening Remarks) Covenant of Christ Conference Egyptian Theater Boise, Idaho, September 3, 2017 by Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., pg. 2)

and the following.

The Lord revealed His plan for our day approximately three thousand years ago. 

We now begin fulfilling that ancient prophecy. Our current struggles were foreseen and foretold: The Lord of the whole earth considered destroying all the wicked, but His servant pled for Him to grant more time (Jacob 5:49-50). The Lord of the whole earth hearkened to His servant and decreed that He would spare it, and would labor within His vineyard a final time in our day (Id., v. 51).

The Lord determined long ago He would use a covenant to graft back people who had become wild and bitter, and connect them to the original roots of the tree of life, or in other words restore a people in our day to His covenant. 

The covenant offered today is from God and is the first step required to restore the family of God or tree of life on the earth. It will change the lost, wild and bitter fruit and begin to recover them and turn their hearts to the fathers. This will connect those who are living today, with the natural roots or those Fathers who still hold rights under the original covenant. (Id., v. 52-54). 

Work for this grafting began years ago and it took a great leap forward approximately two years ago with the effort to recover as near as possible the text of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith revelations. 

The initial graft happens today. (Opening Remarks) Covenant of Christ Conference Egyptian Theater Boise, Idaho, September 3, 2017 by Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., pg. 3)

Following the initial remarks the "Prayer for Covenant" was read.  This now constitutes T&C section 156.

Following the reading of the "Prayer for Covenant" the "Answer to Prayer for Covenant" was read.

The "Answer to Prayer for Covenant " now comprises T&C section 157.

Then the Father's servant Denver Snuffer, who was sent to declare the tidings that the Father is now beginning a great and a marvelous work even a strange act, administered the covenant to all present and all joining live online throughout the world simultaneously.

Here is the covenant. It is now found in T&C section 158

There are four questions I will read. Please remain seated until the four questions have all been read. If, after you hear all four questions, you can answer, Yes, to all four, then you will be asked to stand and say, Yes, to accept:

First: Do you believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you this day, and know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who has condescended to provide them to you, and do you covenant with Him to cease to do evil and to seek to continually do good?

Second: Do you have faith in these things and receive the scriptures approved by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life, to accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a covenant, and to use the scriptures to correct yourselves and to guide your words, thoughts, and deeds?

Third: Do you agree to assist all others — who covenant to likewise accept this standard to govern their lives — to keep the Lord’s will, to succor those who stand in need, to lighten the burdens of your brothers and sisters whenever you are able, and to help care for the poor among you?

Fourth: And do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?

If you agree, please stand wherever you are located, either here or in a remote location, to be recognized and numbered by God and His angels.

All those standing please confirm you are willing to accept this covenant by saying, Yes.

Please be seated. (T&C 158 pars. 1 - 8)

The remainder of section 158 contains the admonishments and promises of the Lord for those who enter into this covenant He has condescended to extend.

Following the acceptance of the covenant by those in attendance closing remarks were given.

As part of the closing remarks a prophecy and an admonition were given.

Those who have entered faithfully into the covenant this day are going to notice some things. The spirit of God is withdrawing from the world. Men are increasingly more angry without good cause. The hearts of men are waxing cold. There is increasing anger and resentment of gentiles. In political terms, it’s rejection of white privilege. 

Language of scriptures gives a description of the events now underway and calls it the end of the times of the gentiles. This process with the spirit withdrawing, will end on this continent, as it did with two prior civilization in fratricidal and genocidal warfare. For the rest of the world, it will be as in the days of Noah in which, as that light becomes eclipsed, the coldness of men’s hearts is going to result in a constant scene of violence and bloodshed. The wicked will destroy the wicked. 

The covenant, if it is kept, will prevent you from losing light and warmth of heart as the spirit now steadily recedes from the world. The time will come when you will be astonished at the gulf between the light and truth you will comprehend and the darkness of mind of the world. Be charitable and patient and labor to reach others. They will judge you harshly, but nevertheless be kind to them. They are going to grow to fear you, but that’s only part of how darkness responds to light. Give them no reason to fear you. The time will come for us to gather, but between now and then, be leaven. Preserve the world. Be salt. Preserve the world, even if it hates you. (Closing Remarks Covenant of Christ Conference Egyptian Theater Boise, Idaho, September 3, 2017 Denver Snuffer, Jr.)

I am a living witness of this prophecy beginning to be fulfilled.  Since the Covenant was extended in September of 2017 I have witnessed the increasing anger of men towards one another and the increasing darkness of mind in the world.

I am a covenant holder, as long as I live faithful to what I have happily received.  As a covenant holder I am under several obligations the Lord imposed.

the covenant imposes the responsibility to help others who also accept the covenant, to regard them also as the Lord’s, to honor God, seek to recover Israel, teach children to honor God, care for the poor among God’s people, and to help lighten the burdens of others. (Boise Conference Address (Opening Remarks) Covenant of Christ Conference Egyptian Theater Boise, Idaho, September 3, 2017 by Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., pg. 2)

and to be leaven. Preserve the world. Be salt. Preserve the world, even if it hates you.

By accepting the extended covenant a new people of covenant has sprung into existence.

Those who have accepted this covenant are now numbered among the House of Israel.  They are grafted back into the natural tree.

If even a small number of those who accepted the covenant now extended by the Lord keep that covenant, it will fulfill what Nephi is seeing here in vision.

...they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land for ever. They shall be no more brought down into captivity, and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded.

These are the Lord's promises to those who will faithfully keep this covenant.  These promises fulfill what Nephi is declaring at this point in his vision.

And I, the Lord your God, will be with you and will never forsake you, and I will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the troubling season now fast approaching.

I will raise you up and protect you, abide with you, and gather you in due time, and this shall be a land of promise to you as your inheritance from me.

The earth will yield its increase, and you will flourish upon the mountains and upon the hills, and the wicked will not come against you because the fear of the Lord will be with you.

I will visit my house, which the remnant of my people shall build, and I will dwell therein, to be among you, and no one will need to say, Know ye the Lord, for you all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

I will teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world and your understanding will reach unto Heaven.

And you shall be called the children of the Most High God, and I will preserve you against the harvest.

And the angels sent to harvest the world will gather the wicked into bundles to be burned, but will pass over you as my peculiar treasure. (T&C 158 pars. 12 - 18)

I am a living, participating witness that Nephi's words have now been fulfilled concerning gentiles who have hearkened to the Lamb of God now being numbered among the house of Israel by covenant.

If the covenant is kept so that the promises of God are realized, then just as Nephi declared, those gentiles who are numbered among the house of Israel will be a blessed people upon the promised land.

The Lord, in the covenant, declared that this land shall be their inheritance

These gentiles shall never be brought down into captivity.

Because the Lord has grafted these hearkening gentiles into the natural tree by covenant the house of Israel shall no more be confounded.

Repenting and reclaiming the fullness of the scriptures was a required first step of repentance for the restoration to continue. When that step was taken, there was a covenant. If people are faithful to the covenant, the restoration will continue. (The Religion of the Fathers © March 2021 Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., pg. 36)

In one sense, the religion of the fathers is based on a direct connection to God. Reduced to one thought, it is that as long as God is speaking directly to a body of people,230 giving them commandments, they have the most essential element of the religion of the fathers. If they remain true to that connection all things can be restored to them.(The Religion of the Fathers © March 2021 Denver C. Snuffer, Jr., pg. 41)

I have thought many times how everything that has unfolded before me in the fulfilling of these prophesied events has unfolded in a way that I had never before considered.

It is a witness to me of the words of the Lord through His prophet Isaiah.

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down and the snow from heaven, and returns not there but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing to which I sent it. For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. (Isaiah 55:6 - 13, OC Isaiah 20 par. 2)

His ways and thoughts are not my ways and thoughts.  

His ways and thoughts are higher than mine as the heavens are higher than the earth.

Everything He has decreed, the words that have gone forth out of His mouth, will not return to Him void but will be accomplished and His words shall prosper in the events to which He has sent them.

All of this that His promise may be accomplished; For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

I am a living, participating, eyewitness that these events are underway by the power of the Lord and  “there is nothing that the Lord God shall take in His heart to do, but what He will do it.”(Abraham 3:14 - 23, T&C 145, Abraham 5 par. 4)

Nephi spoke by the power of the Holy Ghost in declaring these things that he saw in his vision.  These things will all be completely fulfilled.

I have experimented on the word, as Alma exhorted us to do, by my participation in these events through hearing,  seeing,  and doing. 

I have experienced a swelling of my soul and these things (the message and the opportunity to participate in the ordinances the Lord has extended and the opportunity to keep the commandments He has revealed) have become delicious to me therefore I know that the message the Lord has sent and the works He has performed and the commandments He has revealed now among some few gentiles is a message and are works and commandments that originate from Him.

This is my witness.