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.