Drunk With The Wine of Self Deception

As clear and as often as the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, identifies its main message as repentance, I've often wondered why so few in history have repented, and why so few in our generation, including active church members will repent before the Lord's second coming.

But it has been that way since the beginning of our history which began with Adam and Eve. After Adam and Eve had been taught and baptized, they taught their children all the things that they had learned including the reality of their fall, their condition as a result of the fall, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the atonement and the need to repent (Moses 6:47-60). 

According to Enoch, Adam taught these things, and many believed, but many did not believe, and perished in their sins.

Hundreds of years later when the "children of men were numerous upon all the face of the land...Satan had great dominion among men, and raged in their hearts;..." (Moses 6:15). The result was that the majority of the generation of Adam did not repent and would not hearken unto the voice of God and rejected the Gospel of Jesus Christ which had been given to Adam and Eve. 

Many years later, Enoch, who was "taught in all the ways of God" (Moses 6:21), heard a voice from heaven saying 

"Enoch, my son, 

prophesy unto this people 

and say unto them--

Repent, for thus saith the Lord; 

I am angry with this people...

for their hearts have waxed hard, 

and their ears are dull of hearing, 

and their eyes cannot see afar off" 

(Moses 6:28). 

This voice from heaven also said to Enoch, "And for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have denied me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and...(they) have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam" (Moses 6:28), which commandments are repentance, baptism by water and by the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end in faith in Jesus Christ.

From this account we learn some of the reasons why people who have been taught refuse to repent. 

They had allowed Satan 

to have great dominion among them.

 

They sought their own counsels 

in the dark.

They hardened their hearts 

against the teachings of God. 

They saw themselves as righteous and were content with their religious observances.

Many had gone astray 

and because their children 

were not taught the ways of God, 

many generations were affected. 

And those many generations 

had also gone astray 

and denied Christ.

I have been able to identify from scripture several other reasons, or perhaps symptoms, of those who refuse to repent. All are related to whether people believe in Christ. One in particular stands out because it is generational.

I was reading in Mosiah 26 concerning those children of the people who were alive at the time King Benjamin delivered the words given him by an angel of the Lord, and how this rising generation did not believe the words spoken by King Benjamin. And because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God. 

Unbelief in this sense appears to be the same as the hardening of the heart against the word. We learn that these people were not as numerous as the people of God, but because of dissensions among the church they became more numerous. They deceived many with flattering words and caused many to commit sins and needed to be admonished by the church. They were therefore eventually brought before Alma. There were many witnesses against them who testified of their iniquity.  Those who did not believe included the sons of Mosiah.

Alma had not yet had this experience and did not know what to do and so his first response was to bring them before king Mosiah. But king Mosiah delivered them back into the hands of Alma to be judged. Alma then inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning them. It is recorded that the voice of the Lord came to Alma to instruct him. The Lord told Alma that he was blessed because he believed the words of Abinadi and the people who believed the words Alma spoke to them were also blessed. (Note how God's words became Abinadi's and Abinadi's words became Alma's.)

From this instruction, which was all written down by Alma, we learn what it means to be numbered among the people of His Church. Keep in mind the difference between those who are numbered among His Church and those who are just members of record.

He instructs Alma that those who believed Alma's words would be His people. They were blessed because they were willing to bear His name. He then says that those that will hear His voice shall be His sheep, and shall be received into His Church. He defines His Church as: "whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye shall receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive" (Mosiah 26:22). To those who believe is the promise given that they shall have a place eternally at His right hand. We know from his statements to Alma that to believe is to believe in His words, for His words testify of Him.

The Lord then tells Alma that he that will not hear His voice, the same shall not be received into His church. (This is true today of those who may be members of record of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but not of His Church.) 

As to those who transgress against the Lord (as opposed to those who transgress against each other--see verse 32 below), he shall be judged by Alma according to the sins which he has committed, but if he confess his sins, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, he shall be forgiven. And as often as His people repent He will forgive them their trespasses against Him.

Alma is also instructed that each member is to forgive each other their trespasses. Then the Lord tells Alma: "whosoever will not repent of his sins the same shall not be numbered among my people" (Mosiah 26:32). 

Alma then wrote down all the words which the Lord spoke to him, and he went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity (failure to repent), according to the word of the Lord. And those who repented of their sins and did confess them they were numbered among the people of the church. And those who would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out.

Later when Alma taught the people, first in Zarahemla and from thence throughout all the land, "it came to pass that whosoever did belong to the church that did not repent of their wickedness and humble themselves before God—I mean those who were lifted up in the pride of their hearts—the same were rejected, and their names were blotted out, that their names were not numbered among those of the righteous" (Alma 6:2). This verse also clarifies what it means to "trespass against the Lord" i.e., being lifted up in the pride of their hearts, another way of saying they take strength unto themselves and do not rely wholly or alone upon the merits of Christ.

A latter-day revelation to Joseph Smith repeats this same doctrine. "Behold, this is my doctrine--whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church" (D&C 10:67-68).

And what did Alma and other laborers in the vineyard teach those of His Church? "And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things (Mosiah 26:38).

What are some of the reasons this rising generation did not believe the words delivered by an angel to King Benjamin? 

1. They do not believe in Christ. 

The Book of Mormon prophet-writers used much space in their records to teach of Christ, to rejoice in Christ, to prophesy of Christ and to persuade men to believe in Christ. 

They knew that those who would believe in Christ would repent, and those who did not believe in Christ would not repent. 

They used every way in their means to persuade men that they should believe that Christ should come and that He would pay the demands of justice for those who would believe in Christ and repent. 

This they did through experiencing their own lost and fallen state and their own experience of Christ's atonement. 

Those who do not believe in Christ do not believe in repentance of their sins. Because repentance is the process by which we come unto Christ and the commandment unto all, belief in Christ or even just a desire to believe in Him will lead them to Him. 

Belief in Christ will lead us to repentance. Putting our faith in Christ will lead us to repentance, which is the process of turning to Him. Salvation comes to all those who believe on His name, this being the intent of His sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which over-powereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith in Christ unto repentance. Because belief in Christ or the lack thereof determines whether on not a person will repent, all the reasons listed below can be traced to the non-belief, notwithstanding they many give lip service to a belief in Christ.

2. Perhaps this rising generation was not taught the ways of God by their parents, and therefore was not taught to understand the necessity for and the doctrine of repentance. Of course there are many who are not taught the ways of God by their parents, perhaps because their parents did not or do not believe in Christ. 

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have been commanded to teach our children to understand the doctrine of repentance before they reach the age of 8 years old. (D&C 68:25). Of course if we don't, then those children who do not understand the doctrine of repentance may be part of a large multitude of people who do not repent, even while remaining active in the Church. And even though they have been baptized of water, they have not been baptized by fire and the Holy Ghost--they have never really repented because they don't understand. They were baptized but were not taught that they were baptized unto repentance.

Children were taught to read the word of God, but not taught to search, hear and be taught the word of God. 

3. Perhaps this rising generation was taught the word of God but at some point hardened their hearts against the word of God or did not believe the word. Like in the Parable of the Sower there could have been a number of reasons for no longer nourishing the words which they were taught. They, therefore, did not believe His words. They did not hear or perceive or no longer heard or perceived.

4. Or maybe they professed a belief in God (gave lip service), but did not really believe in Him or that they needed to repent or in other words they did not believe God!

Isaiah's description of the Lord's people being drunk with the wine of self deception is an appropriate analogy (Isaiah 28:7,15) as we liken Mosiah 26 unto us who were once a rising generation and to the rising generation in the church today.

"Be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink. The Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep" (Isaiah 29:9). He says that religious leaders are also drunk with the wine of self deception (Isaiah 28:7).

Because we may be drunk with the wine of self deception we will make--

Dangerous Assumptions

What happens when we don't do as Nephi counseled to "liken all scriptures unto to us" (1 Nephi 19:23)?

We make erroneous assumptions that may be validated by the pulpit narrative, but not by the scripture narrative. 

For example we may assume

That we are of the House of Israel and not identified with the Gentiles, and therefore do not apply anything said about the Gentiles, either historically or prophetically, to ourselves.

We will assume that we aren’t among those same Gentiles “in Zion” (2 Nephi 28:21, 24, 32) who “are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men” (2 Nephi 28:14)

We will assume that we are not among those who don’t search the scriptures and repent of their error (cf. Jacob 7:23; Alma 14:1; 17:2 33:2; 3 Nephi 10:14) but who are “at ease in Zion” and assume “all is well” (2 Nephi 28:24–25).

We will assume that we aren’t among those who “hearken unto the precepts of men,” who disallow “the power of God” in their lives, void “the gift of the Holy Ghost” (2 Nephi 28:26), and Deny the power and gifts of God (Moroni 10).

We will assume that we are not of those who say, “We have received, and we need no more” (2 Nephi 28:27, 29), who get “angry” when confronted with “the truth of God” found in the scriptures when it conflicts with their “precepts of men” (2 Nephi 28:28, 31). That we aren’t among those who end up denying the Lord God when his “arm”—his servant in the Book of Isaiah—“is lengthened out all the day long” (2 Nephi 28:32).

And will we assume that because we are the good guys we will be ceremoniously ushered into His presence? He will say "depart from me. Ye never knew me."