Look to God and Live

Follow the Prophet or Look to God and Live?

Do we assume that if we 'follow the prophet' and do what he says, our exaltation is assured? Brigham Young was concerned that this might be the case. "What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation.... Those men, or those women, who know no more about the power of God, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, than to be led entirely by another person, suspending their own understanding, and pinning their faith upon another's sleeve, will never be capable of entering into celestial glory, to be crowned as they anticipate" (Journal of Discourses, Deseret Book, 1:312; 9:151).

Note that Brigham Young is concerned about "not inquiring for themselves," settling down in a "state of blind self-security," "reckless confidence in their leaders," "not understanding about the power of God and the influences of the Holy Spirit," and "pinning their faith on another's sleeve."  He does not say we should not listen and learn, but that we should listen to hear whether or not the word of God is spoken (D&C 1:38).  But he knows we cannot hear the word of God if we don't know the word of God and can't tell the difference between God's words and an inspirational talk.

Contrast "Follow the Prophet" with what Alma taught his son Helaman.  

"For behold, it is as easy 

to give heed 

to the word of Christ, 

which will point to you 

a straight course to eternal bliss, 

as it was for our fathers 

to give heed to this compass, 

which would point unto them 

a straight course to the promised land.  

And now I say, 

is there not a type in this thing? 

For just as surely as 

this director did bring our fathers, 

by following its course, 

to the promised land, 

shall the words of Christ, 

if we follow their course, 

carry us beyond this 

vale of sorrow into 

a far better land of promise. 

O my son, do not let us 

be slothful because of 

the easiness of the way; 

for so was it with our fathers, 

for so was it prepared to them, 

that if they would look 

they might live, 

even so it is with us.  

The way is prepared, 

and if we will look 

we may live forever.  

And now, my son, 

see that ye take care of 

these sacred things (sacred words), 

yea, see that ye look to God and live.  

Go unto this people 

and declare the word, 

and be sober" 

(Alma 37:44-47 emphasisadded).

Alma's words to Helaman illustrate the difference between relying on God's words to tell us all things that we must do (2 Nephi 32:3), and just blindly following the Prophet.

This was an echo of what Lehi taught his sons:

"And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words..." (2 Nephi 2:28).

Many excuse themselves from searching the scriptures by asserting that "dead prophets" are less relevant than "living prophets." They seem to ignore that the ancient prophets are still very much alive, those of which now "commune with the Church of the Firstborn" (D&C 107:19). As Isaiah reminds us, "The word of our God endures forever" (Isaiah 40:8), while Peter cites "a more sure word of prophecy to which you do well to give heed.... Prophecy came not in ancient times by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as moved upon by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:19,21). No word of God a living prophet speaks can contradict the word of God by an earlier prophet. If so, that prophet is not of God. Those that ignore God's cumulative word, moreover, seem to draw no distinction between prophecy and inspirational talks.

When Jesus appears to the Nephites, he quotes at length the words of Isaiah and also takes care to explain them. Mormon emphasizes how Jesus "expounded all the scriptures unto them" until he had "expounded all the scriptures in one"--those they had received and those he gave them "both great and small" (3 Nephi 23:6, 14; 26:1). That should put to rest the view that we need not pay much attention to "dead prophets' when the living prophets will tell us all we need to know. Doesn't Jesus, considering it His responsibility to teach from the prophets and to encourage his followers to search their writing, set an example for His servants to do likewise?

By searching the scriptures, the people of Jacob's day could discern the deception of Sherem, an Antichrist (Jacob 7:23), and the repentant Zoramites could distinguish truth from error (Alma 33:2). What is it that causes us to so easily recuse ourselves from this requirement if not a prideful Zoramitish notion of our chosenness that flies in the face of all truth?

There is an incalculable difference between searching the scriptures and not doing so, between having a firm foundation of Israel's prophets and not having one (cf. 2 Nephi 32:3-7). In the New Testament, as in the Book of Mormon, Jesus counsels the people to "search the scriptures" (John 5:39). Those who believed in Christ, Jew and Gentile, were those who "received the word with all readiness of mind" and "searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11-12). Note that He does not say 'read' the scriptures daily. Because ours is the time of which the prophets speak, how much greater is our need to search them so we will not be deceived but rather believe and know how to act on what they say? If almost "the very elect" will be deceived (Matthew 24:24), doesn't that imply everyone else will? Refusing to search the prophecies, on the other hand, makes people "willingly ignorant" of what will transpire when Jesus comes again and catches them unprepared (2 Peter 3:2-10).

The sons of Mosiah and their companions, who served a fourteen-year mission to the Lamanites, are described as having "waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God. But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God" (Alma 17:2-3; 23:6).

Their conversion of the Lamanites to the truth and dissuading them from the traditions of their fathers, was successful because they had first "searched the scriptures diligently" to know the truth. The spiritual breakthrough and divine promise they and other scriptural heroes realized in their lives, God offers to all who would gain the "sound understanding" and "knowledge of the truth" they acquired, including the spirit of revelation and prophecy, and the ability to "teach with power and authority of God." Once one follows the principle of searching the scriptures diligently, along with fasting and prayer, until he gains a full understanding, then God opens the heaven to him and is able to use him to perform miracles like those the sons of Mosiah performed.

Simplistic slogans and attitudes (tenets and dogmas) that have developed in recent years were never shared by the prophet Joseph Smith. Even as Joseph cited former prophets when teaching scriptural doctrines, he taught that life is a solemn chance a loving Heavenly Father affords us to learn to "look to God and live."  Shouldn't we assume, then, that "looking to God" should be the ultimate pursuit, leaving little room for interests that may be at odds with this pursuit? Although following ecclesiastical leaders may indeed get us started on our spiritual quest, their quintessential function--aside from authority to administer church affairs, oversee gospel ordinances, and offer inspired counsel--is to put God's children on the path to God as quickly as possible. How? By teaching us the word of God. If not, our religion is in danger of becoming a personality cult, as it is for those telestial persons who say, "I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:12; cf. D&C 76:98-101). Consider how quickly our adoration turns from our deceased Prophet to the new one.

Where following an ecclesiastical leader substitutes for looking to God, or where pleasing men supersedes pleasing God, then it is a mark of apostasy, the erosion of our accountability to God by giving deference to man as we worship the creature and not the creator.  God's response to those who muddy his people's waters is to pour knowledge from heaven on the heads of his saints, those who are "chosen" of him (D&C 121:33-34), not those who assume they are chosen though they do little more than follow a man, even though on a closer look they really don't. For example President Nelson tells us to hear Him. Do we respond by hearing Him, or by making it another slogan?

To the Nephites, Jesus explained, "I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people" (3 Nephi 20:23; cf. John 5:46; D&C 133:64). 

When the prophet counsels us to be "diligently seeking to be taught by the Lord himself" (Russell M. Nelson, General Conference, April 2016), should we instead transfer responsibility for our salvation to another mortal? If following the prophet is the same thing as receiving revelation through a prophet, why do the scriptures distinguish between the two? While we should "uphold him by the prayer of faith" (D&C 43:12), and while doing so equates with faithfulness to God, don't people who put other people on a pedestal and consider them worthy of all emulation practice idolatry?

Joseph Smith warned of excessive zeal, cautioning that "the Lord had declared by the Prophet (Ezekiel) that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church--that righteous persons could deliver only their own souls." Applying this to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith added, "If the people departed from the Lord, they must fall--that they were depending on the Prophet (of the church), hence were darkened in their minds in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves, envious towards the innocent, while they afflict the virtuous with their shafts of envy" (TPJS, 237-238).

Jesus taught his disciples that "he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward" (Matthew 10:41). Doesn't this imply that he who receives Jesus in Jesus' name will receive Jesus' reward, and that he who receives the Father in Jesus' name will receive the Father's reward?

God has never declared in the scriptures that He reveals all truth through one man, even if it were possible:  

"I speak forth my words 

according to mine own pleasure. 

And because that 

I have spoken one word 

ye need not suppose 

that I cannot speak another; 

for my work is not yet finished; 

neither shall it be 

until the end of man, 

neither from that time 

henceforth and forever. 

For I command all men, 

both in the east and in the west, 

and in the north, and in the south, 

and in the islands of the sea, 

that they shall write the words 

which I speak unto them; 

for out of the books 

which shall be written 

I will judge the world, 

every man according to their works, according to that which is written.  

For behold, I shall speak 

unto the Jews and 

they shall write it; 

and I shall also speak 

unto the Nephites 

and they shall write it; 

and I shall also speak 

unto the other tribes of Israel, 

which I have led away, 

and they shall write it; 

and I shall also speak 

unto all nations of the earth 

and they shall write it" 

(2 Nephi 29:9-12).

Nephi sees that "because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrines"--which "pervert the right way of the Lord"--the endtime Gentiles (as in us the Ephraimite Gentiles) "have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men" (2 Nephi 28:12, 14 emphasis added). What does it mean to "be led" if not that sometimes our leaders teach the precepts of men? This is exactly what Nephi means and why we should "look to God and live" meaning to rely upon every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (D&C 84:44), and to the extent that His servants speak the word of God we are obliged to listen and give heed to those words. His words "whether by my voice or by the voice of my servant" are the same (D&C 1:38).

From the story of Aaron and Miriam (Numbers 12:2-8), we learn that a prophet is one who receives divine revelation through "visions" or "dreams," on the one hand, and from "mouth to mouth," on the other.  That sets a prophet apart from one who receives guidance through the Holy Ghost, to which every believer is entitled. The "words and commandments" Joseph Smith received, for example, were accompanied by recurring visions and dreams and were given him "even as Moses," obliging the church to receive them "as if from mine own mouth" (D&C 12:4-5; 28:2). Inspired counsel and matters of church procedure and policies, therefore, are not the same as prophecy or revelation received through visions, dreams or face to face. To confuse the two could lead to a condition Brigham Young warned of, of which the high priest Ciaphas serves as a type. Doesn't worshiping God "with your mind" require that we distinguish true points of doctrine from that which is false lest we fail in our quest to attain eternal life?

This from President Gordon B. Hinckley when asked about revelation and prophecy is directly on point: 

“Q: And this belief in contemporary revelation and prophecy? As the prophet, tell us how that works. How do you receive divine revelation? What does it feel like?

A: [Gordon B. Hinckley] Let me say first that we have a great body of revelation, the vast majority of which came from the prophet Joseph Smith. We don’t need much revelation. We need to pay more attention to the revelation we’ve already received. Now, if a problem should arise on which we don’t have an answer, we pray about it, we may fast about it, and it comes. Quietly. Usually no voice of any kind, but just a perception in the mind. I liken it to Elijah’s experience. When he sought the Lord, there was a great wind, and the Lord was not in the wind. And there was an earthquake, and the Lord was not in the earthquake. And a fire, and the Lord was not in the fire. But in a still, small voice. Now that’s the way it works.” Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday Interview, April 13, 1997, by Don Lattin.

Patterns from the past, in fact, inform us that when people's hearts are not whole toward God, their prophets can and do lead them astray. In instances of multiple prophets--where these suppress the lonely voices who bring forth pure revelation from God--these prophets, though they speak in His name, God rebukes: "An amazing, shocking thing has occurred in the land: the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests rule by their own authority. And my people love it that way. But what will you do in the end" (Jeremiah 5:30-31)? "Prophets and priests alike practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as if it isn't serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace" (Jeremiah 6:13-14). In the end, those who "prophesy from their own hearts," who "follow their own spirit but have seen nothing" (Ezekiel 13:2-3), who declare "peace" but not of God--for them "the sun will go down" and they will "see no vision" (Micah 3:5-6).

Isaiah calls their bluff:  

"Present your case,' says Jehovah; 

'Submit your evidence,' 

says the King of Jacob. 

'Let them come forward 

and recount to us 

their prophecies of 

events (endtime) heretofore. 

What were they? 

Tell us, that we may 

examine them and know 

whether they were fulfilled. 

Or predict the future for us: 

Tell us of events to 

come hereafter, so that 

we may know you are gods. 

Perform something good or evil 

at which we will be dazzled 

and all stand in awe. 

It is clear you are of no account, 

that your works amount to nothing; 

whoever accepts you is himself an abomination'" 

(Isaiah 41:21-24).  

Should we not assume that without being warned of the endtime events his people will be perilously unaware? For this reason and others the Lord has commanded that we search the words of Isaiah so we will know for ourselves and not be dependent on anyone else to know of the endtime events and our role in them, and with the reminder that "all things that he (Isaiah) spake have been and shall be" (3 Nephi 23:3).

One example from Isaiah on why we must receive direct revelation and look to God and live is the idea of prophets and seers of the Lord's people in the last days failing to warn the people of the Lord's impending judgment: "Their watchmen are altogether blind and unaware" (Isaiah 56:10-12). In the October 2020 General Conference two speakers mentioned Isaiah; in October 2021, four speakers; October 2021, five speakers;  April 2022, two seakers, and in not one single talk was Isaiah’s warning of impending judgments even mentioned. 

See A Conference Headline I Would Like to See

To one who said "Follow me!" (Matthew 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 16:24; 19:21; Luke 18:22; John 8:12l 10:27; 12:26; 21:19; 22; 2 Nephi 28:14; 31:10-12; D&C 38:22; 56:2; 100:2; 112:14), following an ecclesiastical leader is misguided. It ignores the principles of spiritual advancement Jesus stands for, including the most foundational one of all--the freedom God grants His children to learn by their own experience to know good from evil and the personal processes and circumstances through which he tests his children. The ability to think through situations and make inspired choices can be learned only for oneself; it can't be borrowed or bequeathed by another. Just to "regard the person of men" (Mark 12:14) is a form of idolatry, so our doing so is offensive to God. When sustaining ecclesiastical leaders becomes synonymous with blind compliance, we have misinterpreted the scripture and turned idolatrous.

Said He, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it" (Matthew 16:24-25). In effect, Jesus invites those whom he calls to drop all other considerations and follow him even to death without looking back (Matthew 4:18-22; 9:9; Mark 2:14; Luke 9:57; John 1:43). These scriptures define what Jesus means by following Him. Should we not do likewise so we will not labor under the illusion that in following a man we are following Jesus Christ, when in reality we may be falling far short of what Jesus had in mind? The laws and ordinances of the gospel that are the terms of his covenants, operate independent of man made imperatives and alone equip a believer to inherit heaven.

Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life, summarizes this discussion. It commences with a "man" dressed in a white robe who "bade me follow him" (1 Nephi 8:5-6). Instead of leading Lehi to the Tree of Life, however,  the man led him into a "dark and dreary waste." That barren darkness soon became so intolerable as to cause Lehi "to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me" (1 Nephi 8:8). Only then did he see the "tree whose fruit was desirable to make one happy," which "filled my soul with exceedingly great joy" (1 Nephi 8:10-12). Only when Lehi called upon God directly--independent of the white-robed man who led him--did he partake of the fruit of the tree. And give heed to Alma and anyone else who tells you to "look to God and live!"

Disruptive Theology

Disruptive technology is defined as doing things that disrupt or overturn the traditional business methods and practices. Clayton Christensen, a Harvard Business Professor defined a disruptive innovation as an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market leading firms, products and alliances.

Applying these definitions, I will coin the phrase 'Disruptive Theology' and define it as follows:

Disruptive Theology is a Truth that disrupts and displaces traditional, established or popular religions, beliefs, philosophies, traditions or values. 

Truth is defined as that which has been revealed by God to mankind, hidden to those who do not seek it, but which can be discovered and known, from God, by each person who seeks it.

Truth always disrupts that which is not true and exposes it as the fraud that it is, especially when that which is not Truth is masquerading as or believed to be Truth.

Belief is not part of this equation, for beliefs are irrelevant when it comes to whether or not something is a Truth or is not a Truth. So whether you do or do not believe that God reveals His Truth to men, it is not relevant. The question is whether He does or does not reveal His Truth to men, not whether you believe it or do not believe it. Belief in something does not make it true any more than not believing makes it not true. For example if I believe in God, that belief is not material to whether there is or is not a God. And conversely if I do not believe in God, that belief also is not part of the equation.

That which is watered down or perverted is not Truth. Mankind cannot alter or improve upon a Truth. Nor does Truth originate from mankind through science or knowledge, although it can be discovered through science or knowledge. Truth does not originate from authority, no matter the authority or the knowledge of that person. People can hear and understand Truth and can convey Truth to others, even as a witness with personal knowledge. But others are not to rely on that person to know if what is conveyed is Truth. Since Truth originates with God, only God can reveal His Truth to those who desire to find it and seek it out.

Another way of defining Truth is that the "word of God is Truth," and to say that God has revealed Truths to mankind, and that many of these Truths have been recorded, is in and of itself disruptive theology for these Truths will upset the way we see and live our lives.

There are many Truths which fall into the category of Disruptive Theology, but one that disrupts all traditional, established or popular religions and philosophies, is one of the earliest accounts of God conversing with Adam and recorded by Adam in a book of remembrance.

An ancient record written by Moses which surfaced in 1830 contains some records written by Moses and also by Enoch.  There are three other Enoch fragments which contain some of these same writings.  While there are other Truths in this account, these records settle the question once and for all as to when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was first upon this earth, and why there are so many religions in the world. 

Moses is quoting records written by Enoch, and Enoch refers to a "book of remembrance we have written among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own language." Enoch is referring to this book of remembrance "which was recorded in the language of Adam," and he explains that because Adam fell, "...we are; and by his fall came death...and (we) are shut out from the presence of God." Enoch then says that God called "upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying I am God...and he also said unto him: if thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ...ye shall receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost..." It is recorded that Enoch is speaking the words of God as spoken by God to Adam, which Adam recorded in this Book of Remembrance. 

Here is Adam (and make note that there are no written records before Adam), being told of Jesus Christ, long before the mortal Jesus was born in the flesh, long before any of the world religions--Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, or Muslims--even existed! And not only is Adam told of Jesus Christ, but he is given the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the doctrines of His gospel--repentance, baptism (of water and of fire), being born of the Spirit. The record also tells us that Adam was "caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water and was brought forth out of the water." After being baptized with water, Adam then "heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost."

Because of this remarkable Truth, we can understand why there have been so many churches, religious systems and philosophies on the earth. Everyone on earth is descended from ancestors who fully accepted the way of Jesus Christ to happiness through His Gospel. But, as with the case of the children of Adam and Eve, the majority of the people rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and therefore the true Gospel was not passed on to their children. As a result, the Lord raised up righteous men like Enoch to restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those who would listen. Enoch, who had been taught by his father "in all the ways of God" called upon men to repent and many did, but again the majority rejected his message.

The generations of those who refused to repent (which means to turn to Christ) and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ were left with many other religions, churches and philosophies to choose from, but every religion, church and philosophy on earth has descended from, is a reaction to, or was created for want of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Nothing could be more disruptive than the Truth that the real Gospel of Jesus Christ existed on this earth at the time of Adam and did not originate at the time Jesus Christ was on the earth, and in fact existed long before any other religion or philosophy. 

The Truth that Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, is quite disruptive to both Jews and Christians. Jesus Christ was sent to this world, first as Jehovah and then as the mortal Jesus, and then as the resurrected Savior to save us from ourselves, from our weaknesses and from our sins.

A Truth that disrupts both false science and false religion is that the earth was not created but was organized using matter that already existed and through the skilled use of what we would call science, or better, knowledge.  And the organizer of this earth and millions more like it, is Jesus Christ, having gained the knowledge and organized the earth under the direction of His Father, who is also the Father of our spirits, or our Heavenly Father. And further, by agreeing to come to this earth, by being born in the flesh, we agreed that it was part of our Father's plan. Inherent in this Truth is another--we existed before we were born in the flesh.

Man was in the beginning with God as intelligence which was not created or made, neither indeed can be. Spiritual bodies were created by our Father and Mother in Heaven for our intelligence and They are the Father and Mother of our spirits or our Heavenly Parents, in whose image we are, male and female. As intelligence we possessed a certain amount of light and knowledge, or more accurately we were a certain amount of light and knowledge. We can continue to become more intelligent, or possess more light and knowledge. There is no end to the light or knowledge we may become. God is the most intelligent of them all, having more light and knowledge.

God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect.

Persons who most increase in intelligence attain the greatest oneness with God. The more they acquire his divine attributes, the more powerful they become with God and with humanity. Jesus’ words, “I seek not my own will but the will of the Father who has sent me” (John 5:30), express his oneness with God as a God—the same oneness with God all may grow into. The difference between God, angels, and men isn’t so much in appearance as it is in divine power and intelligence.

As spirits we made a choice to come to this earth and subject ourselves to all the hardships that exist here, to receive a tabernacle (body) of flesh, as elements are also eternal, and that although our body would die, it would someday be inseparably connected to our Spirit because the elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy, and when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. Spirit and element are both matter and are eternal.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God as the only begotten of the Father in the Flesh, but both the Father and the Son have bodies in the form of men, having themselves been resurrected or having their spiritual bodies inseparably connected to their physical bodies. And God created Adam and Eve in the image of Him, our Father in heaven, and in the image of Her, our Mother in heaven.

God’s creation is an ongoing process that has operated for eons of time and that extends far into eternity. Within that continuum, Adam and Eve’s “creation” by no means constitutes a unique event. Rather, it accords entirely with the cyclical rebirth or re-creation of God’s children who ascend a spiritual ladder to heaven. But ascend in this sense does not include strivings, activities, climbing through our efforts, but ascend means to be lifted up by God. The humbled are exalted while those who exalt themselves  are humbled.

Keep in mind that all these Truths have been revealed by God and are recorded. Again whether you believe them is irrelevant. They are either Truths or they are not and anyone desiring to know if they are Truths can find out for themselves directly from God. But if you have no desire to know you won't know.

There are many other Truths that fit the definition of Disruptive Theology.  I will name but a few.

The Kingdom of Heaven is hidden from the view of all those who will not seek to find it. There are hidden Treasures of Great Knowledge that can be discovered. But it is hidden as a test to us. We are generally aware of, or there have been reports over the centuries that these treasures do exist, but unless we search them out we will never know them.

Satan is real and allowed to be here to give us an alternative choice to the goodness and righteousness of God. Satan or Lucifer was also in the beginning with God, someone who had been described as a 'son of the morning' but who 'fell from heaven' after attracting a third of the hosts of heaven (spiritual children of our Heavenly Father). He demanded the glory and wanted others to worship Him. He was called Perdition and the heavens wept over him. But Lucifer is an important part of the drama. Without being enticed by the one or the other, we cannot make a choice of our own free will. Mark His word, there are only two choices, good or the righteousness of God ("Good") or everything else ("Evil"), and every day, every hour, every minute and every second we are revealing to our Father in Heaven our choices. He takes these choices that we reveal to Him and rewards us according to the desires of our hearts.

The justice of God is not a myth and exists because God is God and has given us His law. He says if we break the law, we suffer His Justice. He gives us all the circumstances under which we can become subject to His justice. On the other hand the mercy of God is also real, but mercy cannot rob justice one wit. So for us it is either the justice of God or the mercy of God. Jesus Christ is the one who has paid for our sins and if we come unto Him and repent of our sins, we can be found guiltless at the last day. Otherwise we suffer the justice of God which He has described as His anger, His wrath or His vengeance. But he uses His justice to entice us to choose mercy which comes about as the result of the Atonement of His Son, Jesus Christ. In other words His justice can move us into the arms of His mercy. In the end Justice claims her own, and Mercy claims all that are hers. God has, in effect, suffered the demands of justice for all who repent.

Remarkably all our invited to partake of His goodness and mercy regardless of skin color, sexual orientation, beliefs, sins, and iniquities. Love is His motivation, as He desires that love becomes our motivation. He invites us to pray for and be filled with His love, which He describes as the greatest of all gifts.

All will sin and fall short of the glory of God. There is only one way back to the presence of our Father and that is through His Son. So we either repent (turn to Christ) and continue in faith and repentance until the end, and receive His mercy, or we do not repent and receive His justice. And why? Because He said so! And He cannot change His mind. Otherwise He would cease to be God. Another Truth related to these is that every knee will eventually bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Christ.

The goodness of mankind is flawed goodness because of our lost and fallen state. Of ourselves we cannot and do not live wholly good lives because of the Fall of Adam. We need to be saved from the evil in our own hearts, the lack of our own minds and the weakness of our own powers. We are lost and fallen because Adam and Eve transgressed and partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil after being commanded not to. Why does this trigger our lost and fallen state? Because God told Adam and Eve that it would happen. The fall came about because of the Justice of God, or His word that if they partake of the fruit they would surely die.

Eve first and then Adam, after being reminded by Eve, recognized that the only way they could know the difference between Good and Evil was to partake of the fruit in violation of the command not to. Even though persuaded by Satan to break the command of the Father, they recognized that they, in order to become as the Gods, knowing Good and Evil, must partake, and so they did, which subjected them to the Justice of God. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and would someday die, but they knew that by passing through sorrow they could learn by their experiences the difference between Good and Evil and learn to prize the Good.

Mercy is introduced through the Atonement of Christ. It was appointed unto men that all must die and after death they must come to judgement. But after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning what He had appointed unto them. He, therefore, sent angels to converse with them. As a result God introduced to Adam and Eve the way back--turn to Jesus Christ, be baptized with water and the spirit and continue in repentance until the end.  Mankind is not capable of saving themselves. No amount of human goodness is enough. It requires an infinite sacrifice, and so God sent His Son to pay the price of Justice for all those who repent.

To save man from his sins, or from his awful, sinful and polluted state is the reason Christ was sent by His Father, sent to do the will of the Father. Christ did not come just to deliver us from the consequences of our sinful deeds, while yet our sinful nature remained. He did not come just to pay the price of our sinful deeds. We are only right when there is no wrong in us, not when we have quit doing wrong. We must be set free from the evil within us, not set free from the sins, or evil we are doing, not set free from the sins we have committed. It is the will of God that we become like Him. When that becomes our will as well, then we are one with God. This does not come about by being better behaved or improved, but because we recognize the evil within us and turn to Him to change us, and as He changes us we will eventually become like Him. We can be made perfect in Him.

Because of the Fall we are, and by the fall comes death. Satan is allowed to come among the children of men and to tempt them to become carnal, sensual and devilish, and we are shut off from the presence of God. But God has, through His Son Jesus Christ, provided a way for all to return to His presence. We are innocent when we are born, but when we begin to grow up, sin conceives in our hearts and we taste the bitter that we may know to prize the Good. It is given to all to know the difference between Good and Evil, wherefore we are agents unto ourselves. We learn through our experience, through those things that we suffer, the difference between Good and Evil, and hopefully as a result, learn to prize the good.

This Truth disrupts the notion that you have your values and I have mine, as if our agency is somehow tied to how we live our lives. No, agency is the choice between Good and Evil.

Truth is that there have been seven (7) dispensations when the Gospel of Christ was on the earth in its fullness. We can then look at each dispensation (a time when the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the authority to perform the ordinances was on the earth), and know that Adam's dispensation was the first, and Enoch's was the second. Additional searching will tell you that Noah's was the third dispensation, Abraham's was the fourth, and Moses' was the fifth. We then come to the sixth dispensation which began when Christ came to earth as the mortal Jesus. The seventh and last dispensation is the restoration of the same Gospel of Jesus Christ given to Adam, through the prophet Joseph Smith. In each of these dispensations the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was on the earth, but in each case, including the last dispensation, the majority of the people rejected it, thereby leading to generations of millions of people without the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

All these Truths are found in records such as the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, and other ancient records, some available, some only mentioned but quoted from in the records we have--records available to all.

Without these records, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, we will, as many have done before us, dwindle in unbelief, and know nothing concerning these things, or even will not believe them when they are taught to us, because of the traditions of our fathers, which are not correct.

But even those who have them can also have their traditions disrupted by the Truths found in these records. In fact in these records we are told that light and truth can be taken away from children by the traditions of their fathers, and that the traditions of their fathers make the word of God, or Truth, of no effect.

Even in these records these Truths are hidden and must be searched out as the treasures that they are, and those who have the most access to these records have been told that they are under the greater condemnation for not searching them out. In fact one prophet writer describes these people as follows: "And now I, Nephi...am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be."

We are living in the last dispensation prior to the time of the second coming of Christ. Christ has revealed many events associated with His Great and Marvelous Work that are yet to happen prior to His coming, and yet it was prophesied by many that even the people who have the greatest access to His records or His words would not know of these events and would not be prepared for them.

The records portray a difference between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this last dispensation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The records define His Gospel and make a distinction between His Gospel and religion. Religion, in these records, is always portrayed as anti-Christ because it puts the emphasis on performance and self atonement, rather than on Jesus Christ and His atonement. He says that it is His church, "if it so be that they (notice He does not say it) are built upon my gospel," but it is not His church if we are not built upon His gospel. The gospel, the organization and His church are not the same.  

His gospel is the truth. The organization is the means to foster that truth, and His church are those who are built upon His gospel. And because He is the gospel or good news, His church are those who are built upon Him.

He defines His Gospel as being the good news because He was sent by His Father to do the will of His Father. Because He was lifted up upon the cross by men, all mankind will be lifted up to stand before Him to be judged of their works according to the justice of God. He tells us, however, we can avoid His justice and be found guiltless if we repent, are baptized with water and of fire, and endure in faith in Him to the end. But if, He explains, we do not repent, we will subject ourselves to God's justice.

As recorded in these records there is much said and prophesied concerning those who are part of the last dispensation specifically concerning those who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Old Testament prophets used events of the past to foretell the future, and one Old Testament prophet used the rote method of learning or schoolmaster method of repeating parrot fashion what the mentor articulates. He specifically said that their tablets were impure because they abound with partially digested truths regurgitated for the people to consume. This prophet used this historical fact to foretell the future of the Lord's people being content with a watered down version of the word of God instead of direct revelation and instruction from God.

Old Testament and Book of Mormon prophets use the code name "Babylon" to describe the condition of the world after the fall of Adam. Included in Babylon is the system Satan introduced to Cain, i.e., turn people and property into money and make them slaves to Satan's system of economy, whereby they are dependent on Him and their industry for their daily bread. This system is the cause of all inequality in the world. The Truth--that it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another is the reason the whole world lies in sin. The idea that we fare in this life according to the management of the creature and that every man prospers according to his genius and that every man conquers according to his strength, i.e., by his industry, is the result of Satan's economy and the reason for all the inequality that exists in the world. The Truth is that if we cannot be equal in earthly things we cannot be equal in heavenly things. The Lord's system, which is contrary to our present day economy, is that all work together for the whole, and that there be no poor among us.

But these prophets also introduced in juxtaposition to Babylon, the idea of Zion, both as a people and a place. In fact Zion has existed on the earth a number of times. Zion is everything that Babylon is not, as Babylon is everything that Zion is not. Zion and babylon cannot coexist. As a place these prophets prophesied that there would be two Zions before Christ's Second Coming, one in Jerusalem and one in America and that His people, the House of Israel would be gathered to these two Zions before His Second Coming. For purpose of these prophesies, the House of Israel include only the Jews, the 10 Tribes and the descendants of Lehi, a Book of Mormon prophet. The Jews and the 10 Tribes would be gathered to the Old Jerusalem and Lehi's descendants would be gathered to the New Jerusalem. Also the repentant Gentiles, or people of the nations of the earth, would be gathered with Lehi's descendants to the New Jerusalem. Latter-day Saints are identified with the Gentiles (Ephraimite Gentiles) for purpose of these prophesies.

Concerning the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it was prophesied that instead of becoming a more Zion like people since the commencement of this last dispensation, they would acquire more of the characteristics of Babylon. Instead of becoming God's peculiar people, a nation of kings and priests, they would become an idolatrous people, a people under condemnation, treating lightly the things or words they have received. It is prophesied that Babylon and everything and everyone remaining in Babylon will be destroyed before the Lord's Second Coming, and the Ephraimite Gentiles will be the catalyst for the destruction in the Lord's end time.

There is hope, however, according to the prophets, that they who repent will be numbered among the House of Israel. These prophets also prophesied that the Lord's people in the latter-days would deceive themselves, having been on a diet of vomit and excrement, and that the only answer to this self deception is the word of God, or direct personal revelation from God. Only through this direct personal revelation can they be instructed to avoid being drunk with the wine of their self deception. Prophet writers make it clear that it is not our goodness or our righteousness that will save us from His justice, but the goodness and righteousness of Christ.

In this connection the word of God has been defined as truth, light, spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ (which can be discerned), and as such, has the power, if received, to change us and cause us to want to repent and turn to Christ. Even as Christ personifies the word of God, so we personify that portion of His word which is in us. 

His word, He tells us, is what we will be judged by. His word is used both to make war and to judge the nations, including His people. Christ only spoke those words which were given Him of His Father, and promised His disciples that He would send the Holy Ghost to bring to remembrance all the words which He had spoken unto them. He describes the words of His Father as Treasures and tells us to treasure up in our minds continually the words of life. But we have two choices when it comes to the word of God--either believe them or do not believe them. In other words we find ourselves on one side of His sword (His word) or the other, His word being described as a two edged sword.

Two future events associated with the Lord's Great and Marvelous Work are that the House of Israel (Jews, 10 Tribes and Lehi's descendants) will come to believe His words and the Gentiles (including the Mormon Gentiles) will not believe His words.

There are many other Truths that would fall into the category of Disruptive Theology, and they are all discoverable. But hopefully you can come to see exactly where you are--living in Babylon--the "Real World." Satan is a master of the use of imagery and self deception. He is a master magician who can make you think you are on the right path, but are really immersed in Babylon, relying on your goodness and having joy in your works for a season. If you are not aware--remember that the greater the awareness, the greater the intelligence--you need to immerse yourselves in His words to become aware so you can prepare accordingly.

Disruptive Theology also means that by virtue of Truth we may be taken out of our comfort zones, and since most of our energy seems to be spent in making ourselves more comfortable, we avoid Truths that may make us uncomfortable. This is especially true where we are the subject of these Truths. Let me give you two examples.

The first one is found in the first two verses of 1 Nephi 20 (Isaiah 48) where Isaiah is writing of both ancient Israel and modern-day Israel, or those who claim to be. He says: "Hearken and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness. Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel...." While maintaining the outward appearance of worship Israel does not stay themselves upon God. It is uncomfortable that Isaiah is describing many of us of the Church and so we may want to try and offer a different interpretation of this scripture, so as not to see the finger of God pointing at us.

The second one is found in D&C 112 where the Lord is telling us that "darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face." This may not bother us because we may say He is talking about someone else. He then says, "Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, said the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord" (vs. 23-26).

Hopefully this makes us uncomfortable enough to find out why and how we can avoid the Lord's day of vengeance, keeping in mind that because of His love for us, He wants us to partake of His Mercy and uses His Justice as a means to entice us to partake of His Mercy.