Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. (2 Nephi 8:7)
The prophet speaks of a righteous group of people in the last days, and the Lord will write the law in their hearts. Jeremiah taught this same doctrine when he spoke of the new and everlasting covenant to be revealed in the last days.
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)
How will the Lord write the law in their hearts?
The Lord always commands his prophets to write down his laws. In this instance, he is writing the law in the hearts of the righteous. This is exactly what happens when the saints attend the temple - they learn the law of the Lord. However, this law cannot be written down on parchments or stone tablets. Rather, through regular temple attendance and sheer repetition, it is written in the hearts of the temple patrons.
...and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people (D&C 1:14)
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, 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, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. (Acts 3:22-23)
Joseph Fielding Smith "This in substance was quoted to the Prophet Joseph Smith by the Angel Moroni on the night of that visitation ninety-nine years ago, when he quoted the 22nd and 23rd verses of the third chapter of Acts, which reads similarly. The angel declared unto Joseph Smith that the time was near at hand when this scripture should be fulfilled, in which it says that they who will not hear the voice of that Prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Now that applies to the members of the Church as well as to those who are in the world. If we as members will not hearken unto the words of the apostles and the prophets and especially to this prophet referred to, who is Christ, then we shall take our places among the stubble and shall be destroyed by the brightness of his coming. The time is near at hand when the Lord will come in power, and shall cleanse the earth. We must not deceive ourselves." (Conference Report, October 1922, Afternoon Session 75.)
Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh;
And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth.
And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;
For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant;
They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall. (D&C 1:12-16)
And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.
And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me.
For whoso cometh not unto me is under the bondage of sin.
And whoso receiveth not my voice is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me.
And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now. (D&C 84:49-53)
And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God;
For the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man.
And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.
And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi.
And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not.
Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.
Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.
For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning. (Ether 8:18-25)
I testify that wickedness is rapidly expanding in every segment of our society. It is more highly organized, more cleverly disguised and more powerfully promoted than ever before. Secret combinations lusting for power, gain, and glory are flourishing. A secret combination that seeks to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world. (President Ezra Taft Benson General Conference, October 1988)
Yea, I have sent my warnings and signs but you did not heed them. You pray and seek my face, yet you do not humble yourselves before my throne. You just go through these days as though there is not a thing at hand, almost like you are blind. You are. But now comes the force of the times you were warned of. Finances, pestilences, earthquakes, fires, turbulence. This coming time is very dark. Very dark. As you have never experienced before, but when it is dark; the light shines brightly. It is your time. It is time to let your light shine. As the people see the darkness approaching and getting darker, they will see the light of the world. I am the light of salvation. The only way. The only truth. The only life. Life as you know it is and will rapidly change in the blink of an eye. Seek me. Seek me. Seek me. Yes, no man knows the day or the time you are in like I do. I am the author and finisher of faith and I call out to you to walk in that faith that you say that you have. You have seek me as never before my children. Draw closer to me.
Adam-God is a teaching from the 1850’s church of which modern LDS are unfamiliar. It is not taught today as a doctrine in the mother (LDS) church. In fact, modern LDS leaders have made an effort to refute Adam-God. One who is unfamiliar with the “doctrine” of Adam-God might want to turn to the numerous articles that have been written on the subject. Many of these can be found on the internet or in publications of fundamentalist LDS churches that teach it.
Briefly, Adam-God refers to a teaching that emerged publicly in the 1850’s LDS church that “Adam is the very Eternal Father of Heaven.” Of course, this is taken literally by these early LDS (as well as fundamentalist LDS churches today), meaning that Adam is the personage that fathered Jesus and is the one whom Jesus referred to as his “Father”. Again, it is a literal view.
But, is there another (a non-literal) meaning that is more profound? In the LDS endowment, patrons are told to “consider themselves as Adam and Eve”, but few seem to do so. If Adam is the Father in Heaven, then who are you? Perhaps there is a profound allegorical meaning here that is not anything new at all because it is taught many places in the Biblical scriptures? In fact, there is a profound encounter of Jesus with his disciples who asked him to “shew us the Father”, but the reply was the cryptic “If you have seen me, ye have seen the Father” (cf John 14:9). Moreover, many Christian denominations will even refer (rightly) to Jesus as “the Father” as well as “the Son.”
As one begins to contemplate these things, one realizes it brings us full circle back to the same thing as other scriptural metaphors. Essentially, it is that man is the outward man(ifestion) of God (thereby a Son). He (physical man) is the temple in which God resides, although a usurper often sits on the throne (that belongs to the Father). Despite the carnal misunderstandings, every man (and woman) is both the Father and the Son (Christ Michael – Adam).
One who searches for God should realize that he has not far to travel because the Kingdom of Heaven is as close to him as his own hands. If God is omnipresent (as well as omniscient, omnipotent), then he is everywhere present. If he is everywhere present, then he is right here, right now. That narrows ones search down quite a bit.
O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe. (2 Nephi 1:13)
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. (John 8:34)
When a man hardens his heart and sins, Satan wraps him gently and quietly in his chains of hell.
And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell. (Alma 12:10-11)
Satan waits in anxious anticipation for any opportunity to bind us with his great chain.
Moses saw Satan, and he had a great chain in his hand, and it veiled the whole face of the earth with darkness; and he looked up and laughed, and his angels rejoiced.
These chains both pull the individual down into the eternal gulf and they remain tightly bound to the individual in hell, or spirit prison, the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day.
And as many of the spirits as were in prison came forth, and stood on the right hand of God; and the remainder were reserved in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day. (Moses 7:57)
Carlos E. Asay"Shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound indicates the need to overcome bad habits, even the seemingly little habits that grow into strong 'chains of hell.'" (Ensign, May 1992, p. 41 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 83)
Marvin J. Ashton"Who among us hasn't felt the chains of bad habits? These habits may have impeded our progress, may have made us forget who we are, may have destroyed our self-image, may have put our family life in jeopardy, and may have hindered our ability to serve our fellowmen and our God. So many of us tend to say. 'This is the way I am. I can't change....'Lehi warned his sons to 'shake off the chains' because he knew that chains restrict our mobility, growth, and happiness. They cause us to become confused and less able to be guided by God's Spirit...Samuel Johnson wisely shared, 'The chains of habit are too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken' (International Dictionary of Thoughts, p. 348)
...Living a life of righteousness is a chainbreaker. Many of us today are shackled by the restrictive chains of poor habits. We are bound by inferior self-images created by misconduct and indifference. We are chained by an unwillingness to change for the better....Shaking off restrictive chains requires action....It requires commitment, self-discipline, and work. Chains weigh heavily on troubled hearts and souls. They relegate us to lives of no purpose or light. They cause us to become confused and lose the spirit....These chains cannot be broken by those who live in lust and self-deceit. They can only be broken by people who are willing to change. We must face up to the hard reality of life that damaging chains are broken only by people of courage and commitment who are willing to struggle and weather the pain....To change or break some of our chains even in a small way means to give up some behavior of habits that have been very important to us in the past....Even if our present way of life is painful and self-destructive, some of us...become comfortable with it. Those who are committed to improvement break chains by having the courage to try." (Ensign, Nov. 1985, pp. 13-5 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 83-4)
“For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.” (1 Nephi 22:23)
The current trend in many churches is to condone all sorts of behavior that have been traditionally contrary to the teachings of the Bible. This sort of "doctrinal open-mindedness" is a form of flattery designed to cater to the self justification of would be patrons. It is a form of flattery because it tells the sinner that he need not repent.
“Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.” (Mormon 8:31)
The message of Mormonism is the opposite. It requires abstinence before marriage and fidelity thereafter. It requires abstaining from abusive drugs, alcohol, tobacco, coffee, and tea. It condemns the practice of homosexuality. It calls for the exercise of faith, repentance, hope and charity. It requires the individual's time, money, effort, sacrifice, and talents. To the carnal mind, it sounds like the most miserable form of existence possible. Nevertheless, to those who have made the sacrifice, it is the most rewarding and liberating experience .
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)
