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This is part seven of a series where Denver discusses how we can prepare ourselves to comprehend the things God wants to teach us.
Many prefer ignorance to light. They will not draw toward the light when it is revealed to them, and, therefore, cannot comprehend what the Lord is teaching. It makes no sense to them, for light is required in order to comprehend light; a person must be willing to increase in light, or he will be left in darkness and unable to understand any of what saves him. It remains a mystery to them. The way to darkness is broad and easy. It requires no effort. It welcomes one. It tempts mankind with its ease. It’s popular, as there are many who go in thereat. The truth challenges you. It requires you to change. It informs us of our faults and mistakes. It’s difficult — man is called to rise above what the world is doing, what the world is saying, and what the world accepts as good and true. This tendency to want to be popular can twist a person away from the truth quicker than any other corrupting influence here. This is why Nephi cautioned about the latter-day churches that crave popularity and acceptance (1 Nephi 7:5). There will only be a few who find it. Even in the day in which we live, the measure will always be few. Not in a relative sense, but in an absolute sense. Few. Period. Only a small number.
Another person’s ignorance can never define your own faith. Some people are unwilling to study their faith, even though they claim to practice it. If the restoration is truly of God, then it is important enough to warrant the closest of study. When any matter is studied with great care, issues will surface. Quandaries will arise. There will be gaps, problems, and failings. Human weaknesses will be exposed. Some things will get quite messy. The underlying truth, however, deserves a fair and full hearing. Study of the restoration which goes only far enough to discover the quandaries has not proceeded far enough. One should search into it deeply enough, prayerfully enough, and searchingly enough to find the answers. When one person has sought deeply and another has not, there is a gap between the understanding of the two which makes it problematic to have a common understanding. The one in possession of less is really not in a position to correct or judge the one in possession of more. Oddly, however, the one who has less is altogether more likely to judge the one with more, while the one with more is equipped to look more kindly upon the other. After all, the one with more has struggled from the lesser position.
Only fools judge a matter before they hear it. Such souls warrant one’s kindly effort to persuade, not censure or condemnation. All of us carry foolishness, learning year by year, struggling to overcome the many things they’ve neglected in their study, prayers, and contemplation. God does not grade on a curve. Therefore, when anyone begins to think he’s outshone his fellow man, he should reflect again on Moses’ reaction to seeing the Man of Holiness: Now for this cause I know man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed (Genesis 1:2). No one has anything to boast of, even if he knows more than his fellow man. All know less than He who is more intelligent than them all (Abraham 5:4). Whenever I contemplate the gulf between He who is Holiness and myself, and the great charity required from Him to condescend for me, I can hardly bear the thought of feeling triumph because of the ignorance of my fellow saints. How unkind. How foolish. How uncharitable. More than that, how very unlike the Lord whom we claim to serve. His graciousness towards us should make all of us gracious and kindly toward our fellow man.
I mentioned before that Abraham entered Egypt before he [Abraham] entered Egypt, he received a great revelation about the stars, the heavens, events among the pre-existent spirits of mankind, the fall of Satan, and the Creation of this world. This list summarizes part of the knowledge associated with the Holy Order; God wanted the husbandman, shepherd, and High Priest to comprehend:
- Why this Creation was organized,
- Man’s position in the cosmos,
- Who the “hosts of heaven” were,
- That there was a cosmic rebellion in the heavens,
- That a cosmic covenant was established that framed the Creation, established conditions for mankind to gain experience, and through which mankind could progress,
- That all things in nature—including the light of the sun, moon, planets, and stars— were purposefully organized and governed by a covenant with God.
Abraham, like Adam (at the beginning) and his descendant, Enoch, were caught up into Heaven and received a tutorial endowment from God. The purpose was simple enough: helping each of them to understand what came before and what comes after this life. This was to help rescue them from death and hell. In a very real sense, the curriculum of the Holy Order is designed to give both a personal and a cosmic context to Christ. The Holy One of Israel is the redeeming Messiah who has been our constant Protector, Example, and Guide from the foundation of Creation.
The Messiah was the central figure in the Creation. The Messiah was the foremost figure opposing the rebellion in the Heavens. The Messiah came to save the Creation by His self-sacrifice. Man’s universal death is reversed by their universal resurrection, made possible by the Messiah. And it will be the Messiah who judges mankind and will assign them to various conditions following mortality. It is the Messiah who occupies the central position in all the mysteries of godliness. The members of the Holy Order understood this best and, therefore, were most trusted to preach, teach, testify, minister, and watch over the posterity of Adam (and later, the posterity of Abraham).
The most useful and obedient servants of the Lord have been those who have been exposed to the greatest understanding of His eternal role. The opening paragraph of Abraham’s book is a direct statement of the relationship between knowledge and obedience.
From the first generation, the Patriarchs used ritual to convey a great body of information (a theatrical revelation) to initiates. The Book of Abraham itself appears to be a ritual text.
…the book of Abraham, far from being merely a diverting or edifying history, is a discourse on divine authority, which also is the theme of the three facsimiles. The to the three plates make it perfectly clear that they are meant as diagrammatic or formulaic aids to an understanding of the subject of priesthood on earth. (Hugh Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Abraham, p. 178)
Enoch’s account (now in Genesis of the Restoration Edition of Scriptures) also appears to be a ritual text. Hugh Nibley calls Enoch,
…the great initiate who becomes the great initiator…
He adds:
His is the independent intelligence always seeking further light and knowledge. He is the great observer and recorder of all things in heaven and earth, of which God grants him perfect knowledge. The great learner, he is also the great teacher: Enoch the Initiator into the higher mysteries of…faith and secrets of the universe; Enoch the Scribe, keeper of the records, instructor in the ordinances, aware of all times and places, studying and transmitting the record of the race with intimate concern for all generations to come. He offers the faithful their greatest treasure of knowledge. He is the seer who conveys to men the mind and will of the Lord. (Enoch the Prophet, p. 19, 21)
The religion of the Fathers cannot be adequately conveyed if it is separated from ritualized knowledge. By using symbol, movement, gesture, dress, architecture, sound, orientation, and setting, it is possible to embed light and truth in a way to engage the mind, spirit, and heart of mankind. The temple can be the house in which it is possible to stretch the mind of man both upward and downward by the things presented there. “The temple itself was but a copy of the heavenly temple, the liturgy on earth a shadow of the worship of the angels” (Margaret Barker, The Great Angel, p. 118). It is through covenant-forming ordinances—including rituals—that the power of Godliness has been manifested to mankind. The order of the House of God has and ever will be the same, even after Christ comes, and after the termination of the thousand years it will be the same, and we shall finally roll into the Celestial Kingdom of God and enjoy it forever (T&C 117:4).
Christianity was languishing at the time that Joseph Smith lived, and Joseph Smith took Christianity and changed it (to borrow from Mark Twain) to the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. Joseph Smith envisioned a form of Christianity in which the God of Heaven Himself was accessible, living, proximate, nearby to each and every one of us—as opposed to Christianity in a diluted form, in which the philosophies of men (which are considerably far more boring than the declarations of Scripture) were mingled with and diluted Scripture into something that only a philosopher could really appreciate. Joseph Smith’s “living Christianity” promised things that were akin to what Christianity looked like when the New Testament was being composed.
The culmination of the development of doctrine and teachings by Joseph Smith was a temple ceremony that (in a diluted form) is still reenacted in LDS temples today—in which the journey of Adam and Eve is simply figurative, and those who participate are instructed to envision themselves as if they were, respectively, Adam and Eve. The journey culminates with an experience in which “having been true and faithful,” they’re invited to “converse with the Lord through the veil” and then, having conversed with the Lord through the veil, to “enter into His presence.” That part of the ceremony is rife in the form of Christianity that Joseph Smith restored, from the beginning and throughout. It can be summarized in a single verse that Joseph Smith gave us by revelation which says, Verily thus sa[ith] the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsakes [his] sins, and comes unto me, and calls on my name, and obeys my voice, and keeps all my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am (T&C 93:1, emphasis added; see also D&C 93:1).
See, the religion that Joseph restored divides things up into categories that the vocabulary of the Book of Mormon clarifies:
- You have “belief” if you have a correct understanding of true teachings that are given to you in an authentic way that actually reflect the religion that God would like you to possess.
- You have “unbelief” when you have something other than that. If an error creeps in, you have unbelief. By and large, Christianity today is composed, essentially, of unbelief held by unbelievers because they cannot have belief without true doctrine, and you cannot reject the words of God and claim to be a believer in Him.
- The word “faith” is applied to those to whom angels have ministered.
- And the word “knowledge” is applied to those who have entered into the presence of the Lord. Joseph Smith was attempting to restore a form of Christianity designed to give mankind knowledge. So, you “shall see my face and know that I am.”
In another place (this is language from the Testimony of St. John), the Lord said:
Remember that I will ask the Father, and he will provide…you another Comforter, that he may be by your side endlessly. You will obtain the record of Heaven, the truth of all things which is denied to the world because the world refuses my Father, and therefore they do not know him. But you know him, for he is with you, and shall provide answers to guide you. I will not leave you comfortless. I will stand at your side also.
…To those who show love for me, my Father will show love to them, and I love all those, and I will personally minister to them. (TSJ 10:11-12, emphasis added; see also John 14:15-21 KJV)
This is the gospel of Christ. This is the promise that was made. In the Book of Mormon that Joseph Smith restored, we have a promise:
It shall come to pass that if the gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day…
…“that day” being the time when the Book of Mormon should come forth, “that day” not being when the Lord was resurrected. At the time of the Lord’s resurrection, what He said was, “They understood me not that I was not gonna go to the Gentiles at that time. They were gonna hear about me through the ministry of my servants, but I will not show myself to the Gentiles in that day.” Here Nephi is writing about the time in which the Book of Mormon would come forth, a much later time period—the difference between approximately 33 AD and 1830 AD, so:
It shall come to pass that if the gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that he shall manifest himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed, unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, and harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father. Yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land for ever. (1 Nephi 3:25 RE, emphasis added; see also 1 Nephi 14:1-2 LE)
…if they will hearken unto the things that the Lord intends for them to receive in that day.
So, there’s a process that’s described in the Book of Mormon, the religion that Joseph Smith restored.
He sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory…
See, angels come to visit with and minister to people. Those to whom the angels minister now are able to behold the glory of God.
And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore, God conversed with men…
The angelic “faith” secures for them “knowledge”—because it’s their ministry to bring them into the presence of God.
Therefore, God conversed with men and made known unto them the plan of redemption which had been prepared from the foundation of the world. And…he made known unto them according to their faith, and repentance, and their holy works. (Alma 9:7 RE, emphasis added; see also Alma 12:29-30 LE)
This is a religion Joseph Smith was restoring. This is what’s testified to in the Book of Mormon as the manner in which these things unfold. It’s a question that gets posited by Moroni, towards the end of the Book of Mormon:
Hath miracles ceased? Behold, I say unto you, nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men. For behold, they [the angels] are subject unto him [God], to minister according to the word of his [God’s] command, shewing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness. And the office of their ministry [that is, the job that angels are employed by God to perform; this is the office that they occupy; these are their responsibility—the “office of their ministry”] is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels…
Angels declare things to men; the men to whom it is declared are called “chosen vessels.” Now understand: This is Moroni. In Alma, it’s made clear that angelic ministrants don’t just come to men. They come to men and to women and to children—but we’re not in Alma now, so don’t be hung up on the fact that he is addressing the office and the calling in the masculine. Okay? It’s of no moment.
…declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him; and by so doing, the Lord…prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the holy ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men. (Moroni 7:6 RE; see also Moroni 7:29-32 LE)
All of this serves the purpose of accomplishing and fulfilling the covenant word God gave previously to those that secured covenants with God in past generations—so that God’s promises are vindicated, and no word that God ever pronounced from the beginning to any of those that have received a covenant from God will fall to the earth unfulfilled. They will all be fulfilled. And the system in which that takes place is:
- Men who have faith receive the ministering of angels. The purpose of the ministry of the angels is to assist so that the fulfilling of the covenants can take place by declaring it unto the “chosen vessels.”
- They, in turn, have the obligation to disseminate the information to the residue of the people so that they may have faith in and receive ministering by the Holy Ghost so that the work can be done.
The word “residue” is interesting. It shows up here; it also shows up in another place in which, three years previous to the death of Adam in the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, there were gathered together seven who were direct lineal descendants of Adam who stood within the Holy Order, and the Lord came and ministered to them. And the residue of Adam’s posterity who were righteous were also present on that occasion. So when the word “residue” is used here in Moroni, think about how the word “residue” gets used, likewise, in the valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman when Adam, three years previous to his death, is ministered to by Christ, and the residue were also present. So, it’s not belittling anyone.
Let’s go to that Alma thing that I referred to. It’s in Alma chapter 9 [16]. And it says that He sent angels to converse not only to men but also to women and to children also (and I’m using the new set of Scriptures).
Well, what is the purpose of the Lord in causing all these things to happen, okay? It’s so that we can attain to an understanding of the things that the Lord would like you to comprehend about Him. In the testimonies that we have in the four Gospels, we learn about the sacrifice that Christ made, His passion, His death, His resurrection. But apparently, the four Gospel accounts do not give prominent enough explanation of the Atonement suffering that the Lord had, because in the early days of the Restoration through Joseph Smith, Christ gave a more fulsome explanation of what it was that He went through in atoning for mankind’s sins. This is language from a revelation that was given in 1830:
I command you by my name, and…my almighty power that you repent, repent lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore — how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all that they might not suffer, if they would repent. But if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit, and would that I might not drink the bitter cup and shrink. Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. (T&C 4:5; see also D&C 19:15-19)
Not one word of the suffering the Lord describes in this revelation talks about the cross. He’s talking exclusively about the experience that He had in Gethsemane—which is one of the curiosities about the Restoration, with Christendom having crosses everywhere (yeah, that being the result historically of Constantine and the battle on the bridge, in which his troops painted the cross on their shields and won an unlikely victory over the adversary when the leader—the idiotic leader—of the opposition rode out in full armor onto the bridge and fell into the water, and gravity took care of the rest). So, here we have the Lord, after talking about eternal punishment and endless punishment, giving you a description of what it was that He went through and telling us that that was rather exquisite.
The pains of mortality, disease, injury, and infirmity, together with the sufferings of sin, transgressions, guilt of mind, and unease of soul, the horrors of recognition of the evils men had inflicted upon others, were all poured out upon Him, with confusion and perplexity multiplied upon Him. (T&C 161:1-8)
This goes on to describe what He went through in Gethsemane, in further detail, and then the resurrection and His coming forth out of the grave.
So, why does the Lord want us to comprehend something about what He endured in Gethsemane? In Isaiah, there’s a passage that says:
When you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed; he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see…the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous Servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 19:3 RE, emphasis added; see also Isaiah 53:10-11 KJV)
What Christ acquired through His suffering was knowledge and understanding of everything you have or will ever go through or suffer. He understands. But He doesn’t understand that in order for you to simply be the passive recipient of a blessing that He confers as a consequence of what He went through. He went through it so He can guide you to the same end. There is no magic fairy dust. You must rise up. You must overcome sin. You must leave behind you the things that bring about guilt and remorse. He has finished His preparations. And now the Righteous (who has knowledge of how to bring you through that) can guide you, can lead you, can succor you in your affliction so that you too can overcome that portion of the world that you have to contend with.
Listen to the words that the Lord gives us in an answer concerning the covenant that He’s renewed again in our day:
Although a man may err in understanding concerning many things, yet he can view his brother with charity and come unto me, and through me he can with patience overcome the world. I can bring him to understanding and knowledge. Therefore, if you regard one another with charity, then your brother’s error in understanding will not divide you. I lead to all truth…
This is Christ talking: “I lead to all truth.”
I will lead all who come to me to the truth of all things. The fullness is to receive the truth of all things, and this too from me, in power, by my word, and in very deed…
…the same thing that Nephi had prophesied would happen in this day. Christ is saying He’ll do it; we will get it from Him “in power, by my word, and in very deed.”
For I will come unto you if you will come unto me. (T&C 157:53, emphasis added)
There’s this passage that we’ve got—it’s probably recitable by all of you who are here. I want to look at that as I conclude and put it in the context of everything that you face and everything that you will face, through and including your own ultimate final disease and death. Okay?
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not lack. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters…
You know, the waters are going to be turbulent! That’s just the way it’s gonna be. But if He is by your side, the turbulence is of no moment. He leads you beside the still waters because “Peace, be still” is His message, even when you are in the midst of the hurricane itself.
He restores my soul. He leads me in the [path] of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…
You’re going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But if death has no claim on you because of promises He has given to you, what is there to fear? Why not look forward to what comes next? It’s gonna be far more interesting than what you’re going through lying in your final illness or coping with whatever they do to you in the medical industry on your way out.
I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff…
Well, what’s the rod, and what’s the staff? They’re things you use to beat or steer or grab or jerk the animal to get the animal back on the right path. These are implements of (frankly) cruelty—not because you’re trying to hurt your sheep; you’re trying to keep them from falling off the cliff; you’re trying to keep them from injury and death. You may have to discipline with a rod or with a staff. But the discipline is designed to correct, improve, and pull them away from an even greater danger or their own destruction.
Your rod and your staff — they comfort me…
And why is that? Because you understand the purpose of the Lord behind what it is that He’s doing for you. It’s designed to make you ultimately live.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…
You’re gonna have enemies. Well, okay. They can do you no harm. Christ said, “Don’t worry about those who can destroy the body. Worry about those things that can destroy the soul.” He’s literally saying, “Don’t be afraid of death.” There are gonna be enemies. They’re going to conspire. They’re gonna do things purposefully to try and inflict and to injure, to set back, to harm, and ultimately to kill you. And He’s saying, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” It’s of no moment.
You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalms 23:1-2 RE; see also Psalms 23:1-6 KJV)
…in the midst of potentially turbulent waters, valley of death, and enemies surrounding you. Why is that? Because Christ overcame the world. He understands anything and everything that we will be put through. And when He says, “Peace, be still,” and counsels and comforts and guides you, He does it from a position in which He understands everything. “Art thou greater than He? The Son of Man hath descended below it all” (see T&C 139:8; see also D&C 122:8).
Expect turbulent waters. But you can still be at peace because of Him. This is the message that Joseph Smith’s restored gospel is trying to get across to us: an immediate, accessible, proximate Lord and Savior who understands and comprehends what you are going through and what you will go through and has the ability to succor you in your every need. It doesn’t mean your burdens are gonna go away. It means your burdens are gonna be made understandable to you so that what you experience is acceptable and does not harm your soul.
In that T&C 139, there’s a comment that Joseph makes in passing. This is in paragraph 12 of 139: There are many teachers, but perhaps not many fathers. He doesn’t elaborate on that. Take the comments that I’ve given today, go to that paragraph 12 of 139, and look at that aside comment that there are many teachers, but perhaps not many fathers, and let that sink deep in your mind to consider what that might include.
Then there’s a…about the only talk that Joseph Smith ever had written out in advance, which oughta tell you how important this talk is—there’s a talk that Joseph gave that appears as section 140 of the Teachings and Commandments that I want to read from beginning in paragraph 5, and then I’ll conclude.
Now, the purpose in himself, in the winding up scene of the last dispensation, is that all things pertaining to that dispensation should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations. And again, God purposed in himself that there should not be an Eternal fullness until every dispensation should be fulfilled and gathered together in one, and that all things whatever that should be gathered together in one, in those dispensations, unto the same fullness and Eternal glory, should be in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, he set the ordinances to be the same for ever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from Heaven to man or to send angels to reveal them. Hebrews 1st chapter, 14th verse: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to those who shall be [the] heirs of salvation? These angels are under the direction of Michael, or Adam, who acts under the direction of Christ.
From the above quotation we learn that Paul perfectly understood the purpose of God in relation to his connection with man and that glorious and perfect Order which he established in himself, whereby he sent forth power, revelations, and glory. God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen.
…This then is the nature of the Priesthood: every man holding the presidency of his dispensation and one man holding the presidency of them all, even Adam.
…The ordinances must be kept in the very [same] way God has appointed, otherwise their Priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing. (T&C 140:5-12, emphasis added)
You see, in the beginning, all things were confirmed unto Adam by an holy ordinance, and the gospel preached. Adam had to receive that fullness of understanding before he went out to preach the gospel because there were things about the pattern which don’t emerge into clarity until Adam understood all things. And that same priesthood which was in the beginning is to return again at the end of the world, also. And that same clarity that was entrusted into the hands of Adam will again be restored upon the earth with the same clarity to allow for a connection—by Adam’s permission, it will be restored, under the direction of Christ who presides over it all, for the purpose of having the end agree with and fit together with the beginning, in which all things get combined together.
And so, at the very moment when the greatest effort to bring darkness and confusion into the lives of all men and children, there will break forth a light—clearer, brighter, comprehending more, revealing more, and establishing again that same gospel and priesthood which was in the beginning. It is going to return. The world is not worthy of it. Therefore, it necessarily must be housed inside sacred space belonging to God in the form of a temple, which is the reason why (in the Answer to the Prayer for Covenant) the Lord makes mention of a coming command to build a temple.
God’s purposes will not fail. His effort is equally relenting with the effort of the adversary to bring about darkness. And I don’t care if it appears as though darkness covers the whole face of the earth, and there’s but one spotlight in one small corner. That will be enough to begin the overthrow of the kingdom of this world and the powers of darkness that rule here. It will be the beachhead from which our Lord will launch a victory that will be total, that will encompass the whole Earth. And from that tiny beginning, it will spread until Zion fills the whole of North and South America, as Joseph Smith described it. He didn’t live to get there. He didn’t have the right people listening and giving heed and diligence to the things that were taught. How oft will God gather together people like a hen gathering chicks under her wings? Apparently, He will keep doing it and keep doing it until, finally, some group of people decide that they will rise up. Hopefully, that will include some of you.
Understanding the Doctrine of Christ is not based on command of a vocabulary or mastering an argument. It’s based on gathering light. Light is gathered by heed (or obedience) and diligence alone. By following the light one has already received, you grow in light (see T&C 36:4). This process leads to the “perfect day,” where the light has chased away all darkness. This is how men and women, like Christ, can grow from grace to grace, until they receive a fullness (see T&C 93:7). If one is unwilling to do this, then they can acquire a vocabulary to discuss a subject, but they won’t have the light to comprehend it. Light can be shining all around a person, but if he does not acquire light within himself by his actions, he can’t understand the light (see JSH 13:11; 11:20; T&C 17:1; 23:1; 31:2; 86:8). “If [obtaining or gathering light] perplexes you, then ask God for understanding. He will tell you what to do. Follow His instruction. In this way you qualify to receive further light and knowledge by conversing with the Lord. He knows perfectly what you lack, and by the holy ghost within you will tell you what you must do. If you do not humble yourself and ask for this to be made known to you, then you cannot be brought into the light. The only result will be to perish in the dark. If you follow the steps with the required real intent, acting no deception before God as you do, then you’ll receive the holy ghost and it will unlock to tell you what you lack and what you need to do. This inner light is a powerful source which can literally tell you all things you should do (2 Nephi 14:1).
It is in the doing that you find the learning. This seems more Eastern than Western. We want concrete things and a list of steps to take. But it literally unfolds within you. The light shines when you allow it to grow within you by the heed and diligence you give to God. God is not distant from you, He’s all around and within you. Let it come to the surface. It’s in the act of following Him that you learn to be like Him. Obedience is the means by which you gather light. The commandments are revelations of the inner person you ought to become. They are how you grow in the flesh to comprehend God in the spirit. Your body is a veil that keeps you from Him. By subordinating the will of the flesh to the will of the spirit, you gain light and truth. Do it to understand it. Once you understand, you will be able to tell when someone speaks with the power of the spirit words of eternal life, or if they are, as Nephi puts it, perishing in the dark (2 Nephi 14:1). There are many who claim to speak on the Lord’s behalf who declare false, vain, and foolish things. While they will be held to account for that, the point is not to condemn them. They may yet see the light, and repent, and return. The point is that you must avoid being misled by those who would lead you astray. The few humble followers of Christ are warned that they will be taught the precepts of men and must use caution to avoid being misled. Nephi is both pleading and warning in 2 Nephi 12:2. He wants you to go to the source and be directed from there. To have the words of Christ available to you. To hear the words of angels as you draw near to the light. If you don’t fo that, then it is because you refuse to follow the steps he has described. You must act to know. Without following through in your heart (which you cannot ever deceive) you cannot draw near to the light. The discussion in The Second Comforter walks through line upon line of that walk back into the light, and ultimately into Christ’s presence. It is a modern manual to find Him.” The cares of this world — coping with Babylon — is all that is needed to keep one from acquiring light. Finding light requires a deliberate effort to notice it and take it in. When men and women are filled with light, the Heavens notice. In fact, it is the light within mankind that Heaven notices even from afar.
———
The foregoing excerpts were taken from:
- A Glossary of Gospel Terms, “Ignorance” with additional material as recorded for this podcast by Denver on June 12, 2022
- Denver’s general conference talk titled “Religion of the Fathers,” presented at Aravada, Nevada on March 27, 2021
- Denver’s talk titled “True Blue Mormon: Independent Faithfulness,” presented at the Rescuing the Restoration conference held in Boise, Idaho on February 26, 2022
- Denver’s remarks given at the Seminary Graduation event held in Centerville, Utah on May 15, 2022
- A Glossary of Gospel Terms, “Light” with additional material as recorded for this podcast by Denver on June 12, 2022