Obstacles to Receiving the Word of God

We begin with the premise that there is a God, and that He has communicated to man, either directly or through messengers (angels), and that this communication has been recorded, even though, by design, only some of these records are now available, and additional records are promised to those who believe His words that have been recorded. The office of these angels is to declare the word of God unto certain individuals chosen of the Lord such as Adam, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, Joseph Smith and others. Through these prophets and others, His words have been recorded for the benefit of the residue of men, who can come to their own knowledge of the truthfulness of His words through the Holy Ghost (Moroni 7:31-32). Belief or non-belief in this premise is irrelevant because belief does not make something true or not true. The question is whether this premise is true or not, not whether we believe it or do not believe it.   

We can read what Christ said about what He taught:  "For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50). This same claim has been made by Adam and all the others who received His words either directly from Him or through His messengers.

Christ also prepared a way for others to remember all the words which He spake during His mortal ministry. He said: "The word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things (words) have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:24-26 emphasis added). 

If this premise is true and God has spoken to man; and if these words or many of them have been recorded, why is it that so few people know of His recorded words and of those who do, why so few hearken or give heed unto His words? Let's begin with the first parable spoken by the Savior, keeping in mind that through parables He taught the doctrine of His Father and "spake the word (of God) unto them" (Mark 4:2; 33-34). The Savior's two questions about the parable of the sower: "Know ye not this parable?" and "how then will ye know all parables?" (Mark 4:13), marks the parable of the sower as the foundation to understanding each of the other parables, and to the understanding of why so few know of or why so few hearken unto His words. 

So knowing that he only speaks the words of His father, and that He also uses parables to teach us His Father's words, let's examine the parable of the sower, which is the foundation of all the parables. From it we can come to know just how crucial the word of God is, and how our response to His word determines our fate. It will also tell us some of the obstacles to hearing the word of God, or obstacles to recognizing the word of God when it is spoken to us, and also of the obstacles to hearing and hearkening unto God's words.

Christ begins by saying:

"Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 

some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 

but others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 13:3-9).

When Jesus was asked by His disciples why he spoke "unto them in parables?" (Matthew 13:10), He answered: because "they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (Matthew 13:13). What is it that we do not see, do not hear and do not understand? Before He answers that question he tells us why we do not see, hear or understand. "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (Matthew 13:15; Acts 28:27). 

Peter is purported to have said the following: "In order, therefore, that there might be a distinction between those who choose good and those who choose evil, God has concealed that which is profitable to men, i.e., the possession of the kingdom of heaven, and has laid it up as a secret treasure, so that no one can easily attain it by his own power or knowledge. Yet He has brought the report of it [sowed the seeds], under various names and opinions, through successive generations, to the hearing of all: so that whosoever should be lovers of good, hearing it, might inquire and discover what is profitable and salutary to them; but that they should ask it, not from themselves, but from Him who has hidden it" (Clement of Rome, Recognitions, Book 3, Chapter 43). In other words the seeds (words of God) have been sown throughout the entire world and from the beginning of time, and only those who desire good, will seek out the treasures of heaven.

What we don't see, hear or understand is His word which is represented by the seed. "Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side" (Matthew 13:19). 

He tells us that the seed is the word, and that it is sown in our hearts. We 'hear' it but don't understand it. And why don't we understand it? Because our hearts are not ready to receive it; our soil has not been prepared. Our hearts are the biggest obstacles to hearing and understanding the word of God when it is sown by the sower, who is Christ. Our hearts are set or are hard, and the seed cannot take root. Also our minds may be so full of dogmas and noxious opinions, that we cannot give place for the word to nourish our minds.

His parables are not just stories used to illustrate a point, but are His word and His doctrine, given to all of us as we are able to hear His word. We may hear the parable, but we may not hear His word, His doctrine or of things to come, and therefore we will not understand the parable. Why? Because we have hardened our heart against the word, do not know His word, have not received His words and do not desire to. He answers the question "Why?" with a question: "Why do ye not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word" (John 8:43 emphasis added).

Christ goes on: "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet he hath not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended" (Matthew 13:21). 

The phrase "hath not root in himself" refers to the root which grows from the seed of the word of God planted in the heart (Alma 32). When we harden our hearts against the word, the word is not "found in us" (Alma 12:13), or not found in our hearts. It may have been planted but because it did not take root or because we hardened our heart, the seed falls in "stony places" which is another description for hard hearts, or in this case, very little soil. These are they who are offended when the word of God is taught to them, and because His words are not found in their hearts, they reject His words and do not believe them.

"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22). Luke says "choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life." 

Several keys words indicate that this third group has hardened their hearts by setting their hearts upon the things of the world, and as a result the word of God which was sown, while heard, is choked and therefore does not bear fruit, again not being received by a receptive heart. Hearts set upon the things of the world cannot bear fruit because there is no place in the heart for the word of God to take root. Choked is a good description of a closed heart or a heart contracted. Hearts set upon the things of the world cannot be good soil for the word of God. This is described by the word 'deceitful' which has two meanings in this context. One, the riches themselves are deceitful because they give us a false sense of security. Second, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we have earned these riches by our industry and become, as Isaiah described, drunk with the wine of self-deception. 

A good example of one who had been deceived by his good fortune was Amulek. Notice the similarities found in the parable of the sower with Amulek's description. After describing his favorable reputation, his large family and many friends, as well as his much riches earned by the hand of his industry, he says: "Nevertheless, after all this (or because of all this), I never have known much of the ways of the Lord, and his mysteries and marvelous power. I said I never had known much of these things; but behold I mistake, for I have seen much of his mysteries and his marvelous power; yea, even in the preservation of the lives of this people. Nevertheless, I did harden my heart for I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things (or he knew about them) yet, I would not know, therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart..." (Alma 10:4-6 emphasis added). Amulek's experience is exactly what Jesus said about those who hear but who do not hear, and those whose hearts are hardened against the word because of the deceitfulness of riches and cares of the world.

The focus of this parable is the word of God, and what is required before the word of God takes root and bears fruit. "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matthew 13:23). The good ground or good soil spoken of here is a receptive heart--soil in which the seed is planted and nourished. (Alma 32).

The heart is not the only receptor of the word of God. The mind is also important and presents a major obstacle to receiving the word of God. Weeds in Palestine could grow up to six feet in height with a major root system which would crowd out the good plants and not allow them to grow. These weeds grow in our minds in the form of opinions, dogmas, watered down teachings, and false doctrines, and the only solution is to cultivate the ground and get rid of the noxious weeds, to allow a place in your mind for the word of God. 

A land (in this case our minds) neglected, necessarily produces thorns and thistles, or in other words a plentiful crop of noxious opinions and dogmas which give no place for the truth of the word of God. The mind needs to be cultivated with the word of God or the word of truth, which is the true and diligent husbandman of the heart. Without this cultivation the mind fills up with false or partially digested truths, which can and will choke the good seed of the word of God. 

Our mind and our hearts should not be separated when it comes to the word of God. We can ask ourselves if we apply our "hearts to understanding" the word of God (Mosiah 12:27)? The chart below summarizes the obstacles identified in the parable of the sower to us hearing and receiving the word of God.

Harden Our Hearts Seed falls by wayside Thorns & noxious weeds Choke the word Cares and pleasures of the world Deceitfulness of riches Persecution and Tribulation No Root--Word not found in us Stoney Places Offended Because of the Word Thin soil Does not bear fruit

Receptive Heart Good ground Desire to believe (exercise particle of faith) Plant the seed in our hearts Seed grows & bears fruit Know word is good Believe the word Word of God found in you

Every response to the seed or the word of God is listed in the parable of the sower. Many read and many hear, but most do not apply their hearts to understanding the word. If we don't hear in His words, His voice of mercy and the need for continually repenting and relying wholly upon His merits, then we are not receiving the word of God in our hearts. 

Why do we resist hearing His word? Is it not because we somehow see ourselves as being sufficient as we are? Do we not believe in our hearts that we are already good enough, that the Savior may indeed have to forgive us of a few things, but his love and generosity will easily take away those things, and we will then be ushered ceremoniously into the blessings of the great beyond? (2 Nephi 28:7-9). Such a belief is what He defines as pride. It is the belief that we are good, though perhaps our deeds are not. This is the belief that the old us does not need to die and become a new creature, but only our garments need to be cleansed. In pride we see ourselves as eternal creatures who may need to be forgiven and lifted up by Jesus Christ, but who do not need to be totally changed by Him! We do not believe that we need that new and pure heart which only He can give us. In fact our response to the parable of the sower is that we are the good ground--no need to go beyond that!

This pride is the basis for us hearing but not understanding. Somehow our wires are crossed and what He has and is communicating to us, is not heard. Because we have lived on a diet other than the word of God, instead of the word growing in our hearts, we take strength unto ourselves and our hearts become corrupted and our minds as uncultivated fields, are full of noxious weeds, opinions and perversions of the word of God.

It is no wonder then that Isaiah describes our (Ephriam's) rote method of learning as being full of vomit and excrement (Isaiah 28:8), meaning that even our vehicles for conveying spiritual food are impure. They abound with partially digested truths, regurgitated for the people to consume, watered down, and which give no nourishment. Isaiah proposes that the Lord's answer to his people's self-deception, is the idea of direct revelation, the purest form of the word of God. Because, he says, we live on a diet of vomit and excrement, we are not ready to receive such pure instruction. We are like babes newly weaned who are yet incapable of digesting solid food. Paul expresses this when he says, "For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe" (Hebrews 5:13).

The Lord is willing to give to us, all that we are capable of receiving. The seed is sown for all, and there are no varying degrees to the quality of the seed. It is the receiver of the seed that lacks the capacity to receive what the Lord has and is willing to give us. Isaiah asks of Ephraim two questions: "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?" (Isaiah 28:9).  

This is the reason why Alma 32 is so important because it provides the means for planting His word in our heart, where it can grow and enlighten and take root in us and grow into the tree of life. The word does not need to be watered down or made simple. It is the person who must be willing to exercise just a particle of faith by desiring to believe that the seed is good, and who will therefore plant the seed in his/her heart. The receptive heart in Alma 32 is the good ground spoken of by Jesus in the parable of the sower. Only the word of God thus planted will bear fruit. The blessing is that the word is the husbandman of the heart, not us. We don't nourish the word; the word nourishes us. It is our part to cut off the thorns (dogmas and noxious opinions), however, lest these choke the good seed of the word of God. Or I should say it is our part that we should desire that the thorns be cut off, for when we do and plant the seed, the seed will grow and it will repair a long time's neglect. The analogy to the word of God being a seed is a good one because we can each visualize a seed being planted with the hope that it will grow, and when it does we can say the seed was good. It is the seed that grows and bears fruit, not us. Why do we the Ephraimite Gentiles bring forth wild fruit (Jacob 5)? Because the word of God is not found in us.

All evil springs from ignorance, and ignorance is caused by carelessness and sloth, and is nourished and increased and rooted in our minds and hearts by negligence. And nothing is worse than for one to believe that he knows what he is ignorant of, and to maintain that to be true which is false. Ignorance can only be cut off by means of knowledge of the word of God. 

Oliver Cowdrey described the difference when he said: "Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave, but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind" (Oliver Cowdrey, Footnote to Joseph History, p. 59 of Pearl of Great Price emphasis added).

This contrast described by Oliver Cowdrey is one that the Lord also uses in describing the difference between the word of God and all other knowledge. We cannot choose unless we are "enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16). The Lord described to Joseph Smith that the "other" is what He describes as the "mainspring of all corruption" (D&C 123:7), which are the creeds of the fathers, that are so strongly riveted "upon the hearts of the children, and (has) filled the world with confusion, and has been growing stronger and stronger...and the whole earth groans under the weight of its iniquity. It is an iron yoke, it is a strong band; they are the very handcuffs and chains, and shackles and fetters of hell" (D&C 123:7-8).

And Alma describes these chains of hell as being the result of hardening our hearts against the word of God, for without the word of God we are "led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell" (Alma 12:11). In other words the word of God and our response to it, is what judges us: "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the words that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48 emphasis added).

Notes on Samuel the Lamanite

Notes on Samuel the Lamanite
Helaman 13-15

The words which Samuel the Lamanite spoke to the people of the land of Zarahemla were the words of God, words which God did put in Samuel's heart, words which Samuel says he was commanded to speak, and words delivered to him by an angel. So everything that Samuel spoke was God's word. Samuel uses a phrase "the sword of justice" to describe the unrepentant condition of the people in the land of Zarahemla, and says that "nothing can save this people save it be repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ" (Hel. 13:6).

Samuel serves as a type of prophet who will come among the Lord's people in the last days, someone who has been commanded of the Lord to declare His words and call the people to repentance. And there will be many. We see this often in the Book of Mormon that "there came many prophets, prophesying unto the people that they must repent" or be destroyed. (1 Nephi 1:4; Enos 1:22; 3 Nephi 6:20; Ether 9:28; 11:1). Samuel came even though Nephi was still the prophet of the Church, and in fact after Samuel had spoken the words of the Lord "many believed on his word" and "went forth and sought for Nephi" desiring to be baptized. (Hel. 16:1). The idea of a Samuel being a type is reinforced by the Savior when He told the Nephites that "all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after" have testified of me. (3 Nephi 20:24)

Samuel describes the coming of the Lord as "glad tidings" and that he was sent to the people of Zarahemla that they "might have glad tidings." Samuel then emphasizes that he has been commanded to say: "Because of the hardness of the hearts of the people of the Nephites, except they repent I will take away my word from them, and I will withdraw my Spirit from them" (Hel 13:8). As with Alma 42, 3 Nephi 27, and throughout the Book of Mormon, we see that the sword of justice (Justice of God) can only be removed by repentance. This he emphasizes again in verses 10 and 11. Repent or face the justice of God, and because of impending catastrophe, if they did not repent they would be destroyed in the upcoming destruction which was to occur just prior to Christ coming to the Nephites. This destruction also awaits those who do not repent in the last days before Christ's coming. God will turn away His anger if they would "repent and return" unto the Lord their God, which He will also do with us in the last days if we repent and return unto the Lord. "Blessed are they who will repent and turn unto me, but wo unto him that repenteth not" (vs. 11). Why? Because they face the justice of God.

We also see a parallel definition of repent--"turn unto me"--and used in parallel with the word repent we understand that to repent means to turn to Him. Note also that Samuel uses the phrase "repent and return" unto the Lord, which reinforces the idea that to repent means to turn or return to the Lord. And by turning to Him, we also repent by "turning away" from our iniquities. (3 Nephi 20:26)

Samuel identifies both 'righteous' people in Zarahemla and 'wicked' people. Those who repent are considered righteous and those who do not are considered wicked. This is consistent throughout the Book of Mormon. In fact it was because of the 'righteous' that Zarahemla had not yet been destroyed, but if the time came that the righteous were cast out, then would Zarahemla be ripe for destruction. He says the same about all the cities which are in the land round about Zarahemla.

Samuel then identifies what appears to be the main cause of the Nephites wickedness: "they have set their hearts upon their riches." Samuel says: "Behold ye, the people of this great city, and hearken unto my words; yea, hearken unto the words which the Lord saith; for behold, he saith that ye are cursed because of your riches, and also are your riches cursed because ye have set your hearts upon them, and have not hearkened unto the words of him who gave them unto you" (Hel. 13:21). He tells them that they do not remember the Lord, but that they do remember their riches and not to thank the Lord for them. The problem is with their hearts, which are not drawn out unto the Lord, "but they do swell with great pride, unto boasting...and all manner of iniquities" (Hel. 13:22).

Samuel makes it very clear that "for this cause hath the Lord God caused that a curse should come upon the land, and also upon your riches" (Hel. 13:23).

Samuel not only is describing the condition of the Lord's people during his day, but also the Lord's people during our day. There are some who, "if a prophet come among you and declareth unto you the word of the Lord, which testifieth of your sins and iniquities," will be angry with him. They would much rather that one speak "flattering words" unto them, and tell them that they can do whatever their "heart" desires. Isaiah describes the same condition among the Lord's people when he says we prefer that our prophets "speak unto us smooth things" (Isaiah 30:10), and as Jeremiah prophesied "my people love to have it so" (Jer. 5:31).

Of particular interest is the fact that Samuel refers to those who flatter as "foolish and blind" guides and that the people suffer themselves to be led by such. He asks them (and us) "how long will ye choose darkness rather than light?" (Hel. 13:28-29).

Samuel's repetition of the cry to repent and reminding them of their curse and warning them that their "days of probation are past' because they have procrastinated the day of their repentance, emphasizes the urgency and the Lord's attempt to drive them from His justice into the arms of His mercy. He doesn't let them off the hook unless they repent. He is pleading with them (and us) to "hear" his words, and if they (we) do, he prays that the anger of the Lord be turned away from them (us), and that they (we) "would repent and be saved" (Hel. 13:38-39).

In addition to calling the people to repentance and teaching them, Samuel also prophesied many things, some of which could not be written. But he was commanded to prophesy unto them the birth of the Savior and many events leading up to His birth, which would be observed by the people in and around Zarahemla--a "sign at the time of his coming" (Hel. 14:3). But even the signs are given to them as a call to believe on the Son of God and to repent. Samuel mentions that God's angel commanded him: "Cry unto this people, repent and prepare the way of the Lord" (Hel. 15:9).

It is important that the people hear his words so that they would know of the "judgments of God" which did await them, and also that they might know the conditions of repentance. But this was not all, they were to know of the coming of Jesus Christ and the signs of His coming, just as we are to know of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the signs of His coming. And the purpose of knowing of His coming is that they "might believe on his name" (Hel. 14:12). For if they did believe on His name, they would repent of all their sins, "that thereby (they) may have a remission of them through his merits" (Hel. 14:13).

The idea that if we believe on His name we will repent indicates how a lack of repentance is associated with a lack of belief in Him. The condemnation prophesied by Christ that would come upon those who received not His words, is also associated with a lack of belief in Him which results in treating His words lightly. (D&C 84:52-55).

Samuel then teaches them of the necessity of repentance because of the Fall of Adam, how we are all cut off from the presence of the Lord and die both temporally and spiritually, and how Christ redeemed mankind so that they would be brought back into the presence of God to be judged of God according to our works. Christ's redemption brought to pass the condition of repentance, "that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire" (Hel. 14:18). Samuel equates the justice of God with being hewn down and cast into the fire, and the mercy of God as not being hewn down and cast into the fire.

And once again he calls to them: "repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death" (Hel. 14:19). The call to repentance is to avoid the justice of God, to avoid the second death, and rather be redeemed of the Lord.

Samuel then shows them the signs of Christ death and describes in detail the death, thunderings, lightnings, earthquakes and great storms. He tells them that many highways will be broken up and many cities will become desolate. But, notwithstanding these calamities, the graves shall be opened and many saints will appear unto many. Finally he tells them of a darkness that will cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days. Click here

It is important to note that all of these signs and wonders are done for the "intent that whosoever will believe might be saved, and that whosoever will not believe, a righteous judgment might come upon them" (Hel 14:28-29). So all that the Lord does is done with the intent that as many as will believe will be saved! Note also the phrase "whosoever will believe might be saved." This is the same as saying "whosoever will repent might be saved."

Samuel tells them (and us) that we choose either to be condemned to the justice of God or to be saved because of the mercy of God. "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever does iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free" (Hel. 14:30). And not just free to make choices, but free to choose good or evil, life or death; and "be restored unto that which is good (God) or have that which is good (God) restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you" (Hel. 14:31). It is justice or mercy!

If there is any question that the main message of Samuel is to repent, that question vanishes in Chapter 15, where in only seventeen verses the call to repent or to turn, is said eight more times. The word 'repent' is said to those to whom he is speaking and to those who are being taught by others during this time. He speaks of the Lamanites who repented, and then he prophesied that his people would repent again before the Lord comes in our time. In fact Samuel says it will be "better for them than for you except ye repent" (Hel. 15:14). He even says that had the mighty works been shown unto them which had been shown unto the Nephites (and us) that they never would have dwindled in unbelief. (Hel. 15:15).

Samuel uses many words and phrases to describe the condition of those who do not repent, and a word search through the scriptures would yield many more descriptions of those who refuse mercy and instead choose justice, in other words those who refuse to repent. These words and phrases include "desolate," "cause to mourn," "no place for refuge," "trodden down," and "left to perish."  The idea of being "trodden down" is used by the Savior where he prophesied that the salt of the earth would loose its savor and be trodden down by the House of Israel. (3 Nephi 16:14-15). And who are the 'salt of the earth?" Those who "are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men" (D&C 101:39-40). I mention this to show how the Lord links events of the past with events of the future through the use of words and phrases, and to show that Samuel is speaking to us as well as to the people of Zarahemla.

One contrast that Samuel makes between the Lamanites and the Nephites (and us), is "that as many of them as were brought to the knowledge of the truth and to the knowledge of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers were led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them" and they are made free because of their firm and steadfast faith in Christ. (Hel. 15:7-8)

Certainly Samuel's message to the people of Zarahemla is as relevant to us today as it was to the people of Zarahemla, and was put in the Book of Mormon by Mormon because they had seen our day.

Prior to the Lord sending Samuel the Lamanite, Nephi had also been commanded to call the people to repentance. The events in both Helaman 12 (Nephi) and Helaman 13-15 (Samuel) took place about 6 B.C., and the condition of the Nephites was such that the Lord not only commanded Nephi to call the people to repentance, but also sent Samuel. 

Nephi's description of the people gives us an indication of why it was also necessary to send Samuel. Nephi describes the people as being unsteady of heart. He bases this description on the fact that at the time the Lord blesses His people by increasing their flocks, their herds, their gold and their silver, and even sparing their lives, then that is the time the people do "harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One--yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity" (Hel. 12:1-2). Nephi describes them as foolish, vain, evil and devilish and quick to do iniquity. Why? because they set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!

"They do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide" (Hel. 12:6). The reality is that the people, as compared to God, are nothing, "even less than the dust of the earth" (Hel. 12:7), but because of what the Lord has blessed them with, they are lifted up in pride and take strength unto themselves.

Nephi then teaches us one of the most important characteristics of God. "If the Lord shall say unto a man--Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever--it shall be done. And if the Lord shall say--Because of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence--he will cause that it shall be so" (Hel. 12:20-21). In contrast to the justice of God, Nephi, however, says that men might be saved and for this cause hath repentance been declared. (Hel. 12:22). The good news is that "blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved" (Hel. 12:23). Of course Nephi would that all men would repent and be saved, but he knows that there are some who will not choose mercy, but would choose justice by refusing to repent. 

Can you imagine? Can you imagine that the Lord must visit His people with many afflictions, with death and with terror, and also with famine and all manner of pestilence, or His people will not remember Him? (Hel. 12:3). And why? because "how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!" (Hel. 12:5). 

Can you imagine how a Samuel the Lamanite would be received today? Would his message be rejected because he was the wrong type of messenger, i.e., one who made no claim to authority in the Church? His only claim was that he had been sent of God, armed with the words of God, to call to repentance the people of the church in Zarahemla. Would it be a test as to whether we would receive the words of God even though the messenger was not an ecclesiastical prophet, perhaps just a gospel doctrine teacher, or even a ministering teacher, or a friend, a father? 

In other words is it true that in our culture 'who says it' is more important than 'what is said?' Can we recognize the words of God no matter who says them? If not, then we will be in trouble for certainly the Lord made it clear that it will be the words of God that will judge us. "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day" (John 12:48).

Creeds Strongly Riveted

A recent experience with a fellow brother, followed by several conversations relating to what we need and/or want as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, from both other members and from our 'church' meeting experiences, caused me to ponder and focus on, what for me, has been a mixture of frustration, sadness, and a lone voice in the wilderness.  I use the phrase, 'lone voice in the wilderness' because I have separated myself from the group by searching and feasting upon the words of God.

For me, the member or fellowship experience has always been good and positive. I do not expect people to be more than what they are, because, like me, they are persons in progress. I love that they are not perfect and have challenges. I can love them more because of it.  

There is an exception. I do expect more from fellow members when it comes to what God has revealed to us, i.e. His words. I share Nephi's frustration that they do not "search great knowledge when it is given unto them, even as plain as word can be." This lack of knowledge of truth (and the word of the Lord is truth), has caused many of my meeting experiences to be lacking an important ingredient--nourishment--which for me has been and continues to be lacking.  

My General Conference experience, however, has in the last several years been, with some exceptions, very nourishing, enlightening and makes me want to repent and turn to my Savior because I have heard the word of God spoken, but not by everyone. There are still a lot of precepts of men and women mingled with scripture, taught at conference. He tells us, concerning the word of God, that it is the same whether spoken by Him or by His servants (D&C 1:38). Note that he does not say that just because they are His servants they speak the word of God. And it is up to us to know the difference.

The experiences for me that cause me to be concerned happen in our local meetings and gospel discussions with each other. Even when discussing the 'gospel' it seems to me that we are speaking different languages, even though we use the same words. This is because what we think and believe the gospel is, is not necessarily how the Lord defines His gospel. For example, assume a class was asked "why is repentance the first and last commandment?" A discussion would follow, and most comments would be an opinion or a parroting back of what they think they have heard. The teacher asking the question would, more than likely, just assume that everyone would know what it means to repent and there would be no discussion on how the Lord defines repentance.

A class member who knows the Lord's answer and how the Lord defines repentance may comment, and give the answer the Lord has revealed, but most would not "hear" because they were too busy conversing among themselves, sharing their ideas and opinions or the ideas and opinions of others, and did not recognize or "hear" the word of God.  To them it was just another comment lost in the mix of all the other ideas and opinions.  

I have been in meetings where real and heartfelt experiences were shared-- addictions, challenges, tragedy, illness, etc, and I experienced the bonding that comes from honest expression. But how much more meaningful if we all understood the conditions that the Lord has put us in on this earth, and how He has revealed how we can and should respond to these conditions.

Does it, however, have to be this way? Should it be this way? Following my discussion with this brother I formed four questions: 

1) What, if anything, should we in the church expect from each other? 

2) What, if anything, should we expect from our local meetings? 

3) What, if anything, should be our contribution to our meetings? and

4) What, if anything, should be our contribution to our fellow members? 

At first these may seem like simple questions, but they are not. First, just asking these questions will likely solicit multiple responses, but in multiple languages. In other words, we all speak different languages, or at least have differing definitions of the words we use, and because of these differing definitions, our communications and discussions usually miss the mark.  

I believe 'missing the mark' is the correct description of many of our classroom discussions and Sacrament Meeting talks, as well as our other so called 'gospel' discussions.  Jacob describes 'blindness' as looking beyond the mark (Jacob 4:14).  Because we are blind to the Lord's meaning of the words we use, we miss the mark, or His words and how He defines His words, in our discussions.  Words have meanings, and unless there is a standard by which to compare the words spoken and expressed, the words that we use will mean different things to different people and no connections will be made, and we will not be one in Him. "I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine" (D&C 38:27). When His words are the standard, then we begin to be one in Him. But who monitors our responses with the standard?  Only those who speak and understand the Lord's words.

Let me give you an example. I was teaching a High Priests Group and had prepared a lesson on being able to recognize truth (His revealed words to us) regardless of who said it.  To illustrate, I had found a talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer to a group of Regional Representatives, where he said that if he had his way he would do away with all the church programs because he said they made us too dependent. This talk was based on the Lord's counsel to Joseph Smith to teach correct principles and let the people govern themselves. 

But I didn't tell the group who had written the talk. I did, however, tell them that I found a copy of the talk in Sunstone Magazine (which I had). I then proceeded to read some of what Elder Packer had said, and asked for the groups' response. Knowing that I had purposely 'tainted' the source for some because I mentioned Sunstone, I wanted to make it more difficult to respond honestly. The result was that the class was divided into three groups. Group one consisted of those who took issue with what was said and strongly disagreed. This was the largest group. Group two consisted of those who took the time to think about what was said but just could not manage to take a position one way or the other. Group three consisted of one brother who from the very start agreed with what was said, gave reasons for why he thought it was true, and was willing to challenge those who disagreed while encouraging those sitting on the fence to really listen to what Elder Packer was saying.  

When I finally revealed the source, Group one was upset with me, I guess because had they known it was Elder Packer, they would have agreed or at least given it more thought, not because of what was said but who said it. This group definitely missed the mark. 

Group two was a little embarrassed because they wanted to believe what Elder Packer was saying was true but couldn't get over the Sunstone stigma, which caused them to also miss the mark. (Again the source and not what was taught.) 

One note about the brother who made up Group three. He had only recently become active after having spent many years away from the church. He was not institutionalized. The source was not what mattered to him, but what was said.

My point in using this example is to show that in any given church classroom discussion at any given time, there are many who refuse, or perhaps are unable, to go beyond their traditional thinking, others who are afraid, others who are just not interested, and still others, almost always the minority, who listen to what is being said in light of what he or she knows the Lord has said (the standard). If he or she does comment, it is received by a few, but disregarded by the majority because the majority does not have the truth and light (the standard) by which to compare, having only partial or watered down truths.

For example, a discussion on love may seem to be connecting with everyone, but there are so many definitions of what love is and what love is not, that no meeting of the minds or hearts is achieved, and the most that could be hoped for would be a sharing of what we think or believe love is.  

A discussion on truth, however, should be different because the Lord has given us a clear definition of truth--the word of the Lord is truth (D&C 84:45), but unfortunately many are not aware of this definition, including the teacher, discussion leader or speaker. In a classroom setting, almost always the discussion centers around a talk or a lesson, and the comments are generally institutional responses or a parroting back of what others have said. Sometimes the answer is designed to let others know that we know the 'correct' answer, or to cause others to believe that we actually read the talk. As a result most in the classroom are left hungry and wanting more, having been given only fluff or as Elder Holland says, Spiritual Twinkies which do not edify or nourish.  

Perhaps Hugh Nibley said it best when he said that in the church we give "young people and old awards for zeal alone, zeal without knowledge--for sitting in endless meetings, for dedicated conformity and unlimited capacity for suffering boredom." Why is this the case when we are teaching and discussing the church approved curriculum? Because we are only teaching what we think the curriculum says, and not what the Lord has said even though the 'curriculum' tells us to teach the word of God, and because we don't know the word of God, we cannot teach it! 

Let's go back to my four questions. Notice that the questions ask what, if anything, 'should' be our expectations and contributions? 

What do we need to know to answer these questions? We can say what we think or what we want, but shouldn't we answer based on what we need? And who knows what we need? Only the Lord. Let's look at a few scriptures and see what He says we need. By using the Lord's words as the standard, we can all look to His words to see if what we or others are saying meets the standard or misses the mark.

"And now I speak 

concerning baptism.  

Behold, elders, priests and teachers 

were baptized; 

and they were not baptized 

save they brought forth fruit 

meet that they were worthy of it.  

Neither did they 

receive any unto baptism 

save they came forth 

with a broken heart 

and a contrite spirit, 

and witnessed unto the church 

that they had truly 

repented of their sins.  

And none were received 

unto baptism save 

they took upon them 

the name of Christ, 

having a determination 

to serve him to the end.  

And after they had 

been received unto baptism, 

and were wrought upon 

and cleansed 

by the power of the Holy Ghost, 

they were numbered 

among the people 

of the church of Christ 

and their names were taken 

that they might be remembered 

and nourished 

by the good word of God, 

to keep them in the right way, 

to keep them continually 

watchful unto prayer, 

relying alone upon 

the merits of Christ, 

who was the author 

and the finisher of their faith.  

And the church 

did meet together oft, 

to fast and to pray, 

and to speak one with another 

concerning the welfare of their souls.  

And they did meet together oft 

to partake of bread and wine, 

in remembrance of the Lord Jesus....  

And their meetings 

were conducted by the church 

after the manner 

of the workings of the Spirit, 

and by the power 

of the Holy Ghost; 

for as the power 

of the Holy Ghost 

led them whether to preach, 

or to exhort, 

or to pray, 

or to supplicate, 

or to sing, 

even so it was done" 

(Moroni 6:1-9).

Imagine that you are in a meeting and discussing these verses recorded by Moroni. The stated purpose of our discussion is to determine if the Lord has, in these verses, answered the four questions and identified what we need, should expect, and what we should contribute. At first glance that doesn't seem too difficult if we just parrot back what Moroni has written.  

The challenge comes, and this is the challenge in every church classroom discussion, what does the Lord mean by the words that He uses (the standard) and once we know, will we hear His voice in His words and believe Him and thereby in our discussion, become one? "Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice" (John 18:37). Maybe we cannot hear His voice because of all the noise we make 'conversing among ourselves' (3 Nephi 11:3-7).  

The question is whether what Moroni has said covers all that we need to know.  Are the four questions answered in these 9 verses?

We won't know the answer to that until we fully comprehend, using His words as the standard, and in some cases, actually experience all that the Lord has said in these 9 verses. As we go through these verses I will italicize the key words that need to be defined and experienced, not by what we think they mean or by what others may think or say they mean, but by what the Lord tells us they mean. And we can only know that through searching His words for all the connections that further define His meaning. 

Verse 1:  "they were not baptized save they brought forth fruit that they were worthy of it."  

What does the Lord mean by fruit? Resist the temptation to jump in and guess at what He means. This is the fare of all classroom discussions--so many opinions and not enough informed (by the Lord) comments. An informed by the Lord comment is as a witness of what the Lord has said, having received His witness of what the Lord means by the word fruit. I might add that even if someone gives an informed comment, most of the others will not 'hear' what the Lord is saying, and until they know how the Lord defines fruit, they will not contribute to the discussion in a meaningful way. This is a hint as to how we should be contributing and what we should expect. But keep in mind that the Lord told us He is the vine and we are the branches, and the branches cannot bring forth fruit of themselves. (John 15:5-8)

Verse 2:  "Neither did they receive any unto baptism save they came forth with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, and witnessed unto the church that they had repented of all their sins."  

You will notice that I am not going to give you these definitions because I have learned that unless you really want to know, my telling you won't be the same as if you searched them out. The danger is thinking that you know without really knowing. Remember that your opinions are not worth much when it comes to defining what the Lord has said. The point is that only those who have come forth with a broken heart and contrite spirit and who have repented of their sins will be prepared to receive what follows.

Verse 3:  "And none were received unto baptism save they took upon them the name of Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end."  

Linking words to other scriptures help to give us a clearer picture of what it means to serve the Lord. Do a search in the scriptures on your Gospel Library (only the scriptures) under the term 'serve him' and see how the many references add to and complete a picture of what He means by serving him. Alma is an outstanding example of serving the Lord by bringing others unto Christ by teaching them the word of God.

Verse 4:  "And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and finisher of their faith."

Let me make a few comments here on verse four. Here the Lord is telling us, after having been cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost and numbered among the people of the church of Christ, how the Lord's words will nourish the church members who have been numbered. (see D&C 10:67-68 for what it means to be a member of His church.) The verb nourish is a key to understanding what the Lord is revealing to us. Anything other than His words will not nourish us! Watered down words will not nourish. Our opinions, now matter how informed, will not nourish us. The knowledge of others will not nourish us. Teachers will not nourish us. Only His words will nourish us!. So if we expect to be nourished when we attend meetings where His words are perverted or watered down, we will be disappointed, and in my case, frustrated, saddened and concerned.

Only His words will enlighten us, taste delicious to us and nourish us. But unless His words are, as Alma says 'found in us' we will not be a conduit for his words. His words are only found in us when the soil [our heart] is receptive to receive them. Keep in mind the Parable of the Sower. Like Alma we need to believe the words of Abinadi, write them down and allow them to become our words. This is the blessing of His words--they can and will become our words, we will hear His voice in His words, and we will stand as a witness of God in all things.  

Furthermore, it will be through His words that we come to know and witness all that He has revealed, and then desire to receive more. We will hunger and thirst after His words and will feast upon them. Through His words we will experience our lost and fallen state and the need for His atonement. We will desire to repent and retain in remembrance His goodness and our nothingness. It will be through His words that we will taste of His goodness and greatness and desire others to taste as we have tasted. We will sing songs of redeeming love and shout for joy 

Verse 5:  "And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of our souls."  

Doesn't this verse summarize our expectations and contributions? 

Note that He did not say the welfare of our person, but the welfare of our souls. There is a difference. Many of us, as we should be, are good at helping others, looking out for their welfare. Only a few, however, are good at looking out for the welfare of our souls. These words give us the purpose of our discussions when we speak (teach) one with another. Who knows what is best for the welfare of our souls?  Our Father in Heaven and He has sent His son to invite us to continually be watchful unto prayer, to give us His Father's words to get us in the right way and keep us in the right way. And we don't have to rely on any of our merits. We can rely alone or wholly upon His merits. Talk about the welfare of our souls! 

Verse 6:  "And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of the Lord Jesus."

Verse 7:  "And they were strict to observe that there should be no iniquity among them; and whoso was found to commit iniquity, and three witnesses of the church did condemn them before the elders, and if they repented not and confessed not, their names were blotted out, and they were not numbered among the people of Christ."

No iniquity means a person is repenting or turning to Christ and turning away from the world. Notice how easy it is to put ourselves in the "no iniquity" category because we focus on the performance rather than on faith in Christ.

Verse 8:  "But as oft as they repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent, they were forgiven.

Verse 9:  "And their meetings were conducted by the church after the manner of the workings of the Spirit, and by the power of the Holy Ghost; for as the power of the Holy Ghost led them whether to preach, or to exhort, or to pray, or to supplicate, or to sing, even so it was done."  

Of course relying on the workings of the Spirit requires faith, just as relying on the Spirit to give "you in the very hour that portion (of the words of God that you have treasured up continually) that shall be meted unto every man" (D&C 84:85; see also D&C 50).

Our problem is that the creeds of the fathers are so strongly riveted upon the hearts of the children that the children have inherited lies and filled the world with confusion. (D&C 123:9-13). This is true in the church as well. A lie is an abomination and is contrary to the revealed word of the Lord. Unfortunately these lies are espoused in our classrooms and in our discussions. We don't lie intentionally or maliciously, but the words or guile that comes out of our mouths can be abominations.

A friend of mine wrote to me saying: "To me Satan gets rid of truth by twisting it so that even though you have seventy percent of the concept right, the remaining thirty percent warps it just enough to turn it into a perversion of the right way and of true doctrine. After all it might just be easier for him to get us to imagine a half-truth rather than a complete lie.  It also makes me think that Satan loves to start in the mind before he starts on our behavior...because if he can get us to believe in a half-truth and act on a half-truth, he can get us into believing that according to our vain imaginations we are consistently living right. The result is a people living a perversion, teaching it to their children, and believing they are in the right and need no such thing as repentance."

You can begin to see how difficult it becomes to get people, even those who want to, to change their habits of thinking and feeling. If our habits of thinking are based on what we have heard others say, and if our diet is limited to reading and hearing what others have said or written, we become, in effect, a product of the language and knowledge of others, and we bring those ideas into our discussions. Which is OK if those ideas convey the words of God, but they most often do not. If we use the words of others as a comparison to what the Lord has revealed, like a barometer which measures how we are doing, then they can be useful and meaningful. I have learned to look to Christ as the sole source of light and truth in my life. I am always interested in what others say, but will always compare what others say with the light and truth that I have received. It can change as more is revealed to me through His words.

Bruce R. McConkie said "Wise gospel students do not build their philosophies of life on quotations of individuals even though those quotations come from presidents of the Church. Wise people anchor their doctrine on the Standard Works. When Section 20 says that God is infinite and eternal, it means just that and so on through all the revelations. There is no need to attempt to harmonize conflicting views when some of the views are out of harmony with the Standard Works. This is what life is all about. The Lord is finding out what we believe in spite of the allurements of the world or the philosophies of men or the seemingly rational and logical explanations that astute people make. We have been introduced to the gospel, we have the gift of the Holy Ghost; we have the Standard Works and it is our responsibility to get in tune and understand properly what the Lord has revealed."   

By having the Lord's standard, it does not matter whether we miss it completely or even slightly, the result is the same.  When we miss the mark in our classrooms and other meetings, we perfectly fit the description the Lord used when He addressed Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove" ...all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."  

When this is the rule rather than the exception, we can understand why Joseph Smith echoed the Prophet Isaiah when he said that our meetings are too low, to mean and too condescending for the called and chosen of God. Where is the response to Joseph's charge to "search the scriptures (not read or study)--search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you, and if you do it with an eye single to His glory nothing doubting, He will answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of God; nor will there be any room for speculation. No; for when men receive their instruction from Him that made them, they know how He will save them. Then again we say: Search the Scriptures, search the Prophets and learn what portion of them belongs to you" (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith).

Instead I fear we have become as Brigham Young said, "fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, like a door upon its hinges, and move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement."  

Compare these two statements with our classroom experiences and it is easy to see where we are and where we should be, and why I felt the need to write these thoughts. And remember if you be a good minister of Jesus Christ, you shall be "nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou has attained" (2 Timothy 4:6). "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine, continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee" (2 Timothy 4:16).

I had the experience of being in my Elders' Quorum in the Power Ranch Ward where the instructor led a discussion on truth. But unlike many discussions, the instructor first used the scriptures to define truth including D&C 84:45 which tells us that the word of the Lord is truth. The class members, without "hearing," jumped in with comments about how hard it is to know truth. Science was mentioned as was one Elder's frustration with having so many choices. But the instructor kept bringing us back to the Lord's definition of truth. Someone said that one truth we know from His words, is that we only have two choices, good (Christ) or evil (everything else), and that we reveal to the Lord what we really want. The instructor then said that "what I love is what I do" which reinforced the truth that where our heart is there will our treasure be. The difference between having the Lord's definition in our discussion, and being reminded of it by the instructor and others in the quorum, kept us from relying on our definitions of truth and kept us focused on His. The result for me was nourishment and connection to my fellow elders.