This is the date when the birth of Christ is celebrated. Although it is generally recognized that His birth was in the springtime, this date has been adopted for the celebration.

This midwinter date was already a celebration in earlier Roman and Egyptian cultures (and many others), and has a sullied reputation as being a “pagan” occasion. It is thought that Christianity appropriated a pre-existing celebration and put a Christian veneer on it. That is true enough, as far as it goes.

If you go back far enough in religious observances, there was a mid-winter celebration that existed from antedeluvian times that marked the return of light and the promised triumph of light over darkness. The “pagans” got it from an original true tradition and then corrupted it into Rome’s Sol Invictus and other festivities.

Although this is not Christ’s birthdate, and although it was acknowledged in false religious traditions at the time they were Christianized, yet this date was always an important yearly milestone. It reflects the intention of God to eventually have this world reclaimed from darkness and brought into peace.

“For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the gentiles like a flowing stream.” OC Isa. 25:2 It is therefore apt to celebrate the birth of the Lord on a date when nature promises the triumph of light. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this.” OC Isa. 4:1 Our Lord will triumph. He came in meekness and will return in glory.

Yesterday was the winter solstice, when daylight reached its lowest ebb. Today marks the return of daylight. Today is also the date of Joseph Smith’s birth. It is altogether apt that the prophet of a dispensation of the gospel would be born at the moment the annual cycle of light began to increase in nature.

It was not inevitable that Joseph’s dispensation failed to welcome the return of the Lord. That required deliberate choices by Joseph’s contemporaries. They got an offer from the Lord, delivered by Joseph Smith. It was an offer to gather them as a hen gathers her chicks, but they refused the offer.

We know that the Lord fully intends to fulfill every prophecy, vindicate every promise, and keep every covenant. That means the Lord has been confident from before the foundation of the world that there would come a generation in which His words would all be met. “The earth also shall be troubled, and the waters of the great deep, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken; and when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for the day of your redemption draws near. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And he spoke to them a parable, saying, Behold the fig tree and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves that summer is now near at hand. So likewise you, when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near at hand. Truly I say unto you, this generation — the generation when the times of the gentiles are fulfilled — shall not pass away until all are fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” NC Luke 12:17-18

In Mark’s account the Lord mentions an abomination in the holy place happening also, and reiterates it will happen in a single generation. See NC Mark 6:6-7

Matthew records this account: “And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wherever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together. So likewise shall my elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth. And they shall hear of wars and rumors of wars — behold, I speak unto you for my elect’s sake — for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in diverse places. And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold. But he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved. And the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached, in the whole world, to a witness over all people; and then will the end come, or the destruction of the wicked. And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the Powers of Heaven shall be shaken. Truly I say unto you, this generation in which these things shall be shown forth shall not pass away until all I have told you shall be fulfilled. Although the days will come that heaven and earth shall pass away, yet my words shall not pass away, but all shall be fulfilled.” Matt. 11:7-8

The gospel must be preached in the world. That requires the gospel to be restored in a fullness. Nations are at war, both actively in direct conflict and passively using economic, psychological and cultural means to undermine and harm one another. The fig tree is showing signs of shooting forth, and therefore summer is now near at hand.

The question is not whether the Lord’s promises will be kept. The question is not whether the time is now fast approaching. The only question is how few or how many will gather from the four quarters of the earth.

The history of Israel, and the specific events of the Lord’s first coming to Israel, involve comparatively few of those who lived at the time. It is not necessary for the world to notice what is underway. It is only required for the Lord to act consistent with what He promised to do, and for some few to respond and obey His voice.

There is going to be a last dispensation of the gospel. It will coincide with a final, single generation of the world. The Lord intends to return to judge the wicked and establish peace. There are signs of the fig tree shooting forth everywhere. And there are many evidences that a new dispensation is underway. Whether it is acknowledged or even noticed by the world is unimportant. But for you, it is quite important that you notice. Noticing and heeding will determine everyone’s destiny.

After liberation from slavery in Egypt, Israel was not organized, but left to follow the Law revealed to Moses, with essential religious rites and functions trusted to priests and Levites. As need arose the Lord would inspire action, but the body of believers were self-governing.

This condition was unlike how other surrounding people were organized. Although Israel had the prophet Samuel at the time they wanted to imitate the order they saw elsewhere. That led to a revolution in Israelite society. Here is how the change happened.

“Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel, unto Ramah, and said unto him, Behold, you are old, and your sons walk not in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us, like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Listen unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done, since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in which they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto you. Now therefore listen unto their voice. Nevertheless, yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.” OC 1 Sam. 4:2; emphasis added

The intolerable freedom and apparent disorder of Israelite society made them insecure. Other nations could organize armies and plan invasions of their neighbors. Israel was vulnerable. A generation before Samuel when the threat came from the Midianites, and the Amalekites, and the children of the east who gathered together to attack Israel, the Lord visited Gideon and took upon Himself the defense of Israel against her enemies. Gideon sent out a request for defenders, and thirty-two thousand men volunteered. But the Lord told Gideon that was too many for His purpose, and had Gideon send home all who were fearful or afraid. After twenty-two thousand left there remained only ten thousand to defend against the Midianites, Amalekites and children of the east.

After another round of sending the volunteers home based on how they drank from the stream, only three-hundred remained. These three-hundred did not drink with their heads down, but using their hands to cup and drink they remained vigilant and watchful while drinking. The Lord explained, “By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. And let all the other people go every man unto his place.” OC Judges 3:6

The Lord wanted Gideon and Israel to know it was Him who would deliver Israel. He would fight their battles. And by the hand of those three-hundred the Lord did deliver Israel safely from the threat posed by their neighbors.

Samuel was told to warn Israel what making a king over them would produce. “And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be compounders, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants. And he will take your menservants and your maidservants, and your best young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep, and you shall be his servants. And you shall cry out in that day because of your king whom you shall have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” OC 1 Sam. 4:3

When the restoration began there were no offices other than priest and elder. Priests were ordained and elders were elected by the assembled believers. When Parley Pratt and Sidney Rigdon (both of whom were Campbellites) converted to the new religion they brought with them the desire to have a more ordered congregation of believers. The Lord accommodated their desire, much as He did in Samuel’s day. Although every existing church was corrupt, yet the saints wanted to have something more than the scattered congregations of the early restoration.

In time there was an entire magisterium of offices put into place, with all the failures that follow having positions of authority. Nauvoo was a hotbed of deceit, adultery, lying, promiscuity and intrigue. The religious status of John C. Bennett gave credibility to his seduction of women in Nauvoo.

Ultimately Joseph turned to a new “Kingdom of God” that was not the organized church. It was something very different. In it Joseph was to be a “king and priest” to God, in a distinctly different kind of order. It involved adoption sealing, which is first mentioned by Joseph Smith in October 1843. There was a familial pattern beginning to emerge, altogether distinct from quorums, priestly offices, and an organized religious society. This was something quite new, and hardly began in the few last months of Joseph’s life.

Had Joseph Smith continued westward in late June 1844 it is likely we would have learned about something more akin to the earliest days of mankind’s religion. We would likely have seen the “church” replaced by a family organization. However, the curtain closed, Hyrum (holder of the office of patriarch and priesthood) and Joseph (prophet and seer) were taken and the “fullness” forfeited.

The offer to gather in Joseph’s day produced some wonderful things. We should prize them as gifts from heaven. But the organizations that have become corrupted should not fool anyone into thinking they hold the same status as did Joseph.

At the end of Mormon’s abridgment of The Book of Mormon he looked clear-eyed at the latter-day churches (including those who claim they are what Joseph restored) and warned us: “Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shewn you unto me, and I know your doing, and I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts. And there are none, save a few only, who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquity. And your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts. For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted. O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies? Because of the praise of the world? Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick, and the afflicted to pass by you and notice them not? Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain? And cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground for vengeance upon your heads? Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you, and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.” NC Mormon 4:5

Every dispensation holds the potential to be the last. There is going to be a final generation who will rise up and allow the Lord to gather them as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. Careful, solemn, ponderous thought and meekness before God are required.

As soon as the Lord called Joseph Smith to establish a new dispensation, other characters began to advance claims to be noticed for having similar spiritual encounters. One of those is enough to illustrate the point. A fellow named Francis Gladden Bishop spent a decade in the church. He claimed to have spiritual experiences dating to 1826, publishing his claims twenty-five years afterwards.

He claimed that when 16 years old a number of heavenly personages visited him, one of which was the Ancient of Days mentioned in the Book of Daniel. He purported to have been given gold plates with the Book of Mormon text, the sword of Laban, and two crowns. And in 1832 a being “of God-like majesty” ordained him a high priest promising that he would “yet lead the church.” JSP Documents, Vol. 13, pp. 123-124

He was ultimately excommunicated in 1842 for having “written & published or taught certain Revelations & doctrines not consistent with the Doctrine & Covenants of the Church.” JSP Journals Vol. 2, p. 43. He wrote to Joseph Smith on September 26, 1843 inquiring about rebaptism. He said, among other things, “I express my deep conviction that my work is not yet finished in Zion.” JSP Documents, Vol. 13, p. 126

His letter goes on to expound on his understanding of various prophecies involving the last days and prophets spoken of in Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel and Revelation. He ultimately organized a schismatic movement called “Kingdom of God” in 1842, participated in eight different religious movements beginning in 1847, and in the end settled in Salt Lake City, where he died.

His zeal overcame his willingness to support God’s work through Joseph Smith. He would have been better served to follow Paul’s advice to the Corinthians: “If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” NC 1 Cor. 1:60 That is, if he thought himself a prophet or spiritual to have acknowledged and supported God’s work through Joseph Smith.

Oddly, today the churches founded by Joseph Smith (now numbering over one-hundred) fail to acknowledge that the things Joseph wrote, taught, denounced, preached against, or preached for are the commandments of the Lord. Instead they oppose Joseph’s teachings, claim there are ‘secret’ matters that glaringly contradict his public sermons and writings. They make Joseph a liar, which would consign him to hell: “Woe unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell.” RE 2 Ne. 6:10

The dispensation God founded through Joseph Smith failed, and the professors of the various church factions are all corrupt. They are all wrong, all their creeds are an abomination in God’s sight, that the professors were all corrupt, that, They draw near to God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. They remain as if no restoration occurred at all, having robbed from it claims to authority which rejecting the actual doctrine, teachings, commandments and Spirit of the restoration.

Nephi not only saw, but wrote about our day, declaring: “in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other, Behold, I, I am the Lord’s — and the other shall say, I, I am the Lord’s — and thus shall everyone say that hath built up churches and not unto the Lord. And they shall contend one with another, and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the holy ghost which giveth utterance. And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel. And they say unto the people, Hearken unto us and hear ye our precept, for behold, there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men. Behold, hearken ye unto my precept. If they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work. Yea, and there shall be many which shall say, Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die and it shall be well with us. And there shall also be many which shall say, Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God, he will justify in committing a little sin. Yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor, there is no harm in this. And do all these things, for tomorrow we die. And if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner false, and vain, and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord. And their works shall be in the dark, and the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them. Yea, they have all gone out of the way, they have become corrupted; because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride, they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing, and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart because in their pride they are puffed up. They wear stiff necks and high heads, yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they 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.” NC 2 Ne. 12:1-2

Another dispensation is necessary.

Every dispensation of the Gospel is the last dispensation. The Lord has been willing to return and reclaim the world, and every dispensation is an offer to do just that. “How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chicks under her wings, and ye would not!” NC Matthew 10:36; NC Luke 9:3; NC 3 Nephi 4:9; T&C 29:8.

In that last quoted 1831 revelation the Lord explained, “O you nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you would not? How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by my own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgments, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but you would not?” Id.

When one dispensation fails, then the next dispensation is the “last”–and this will continue until mankind finally awakens and arises to what the Lord offers.

As scripture explains: “Commencing with Adam, who was the first man, who is spoken of in Daniel as being the Ancient of Days, or in other words, the first and oldest of all, the great grand progenitor, of whom it is said in another place, He is Michael, because he was the first and father of all, not only by progeny, but he was the first to hold the spiritual blessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from Heaven and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fullness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all the times have been and will be revealed through him, from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end of all the dispensations that are to be revealed.” T&C 140:3

This same Adam, who stands as the first to hold spiritual blessings, appeared early in the time of Joseph Smith to protect the young prophet. Joseph mentioned this in passing in an 1842 letter, “The voice of Michael on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the Devil when he appeared as an angel of light.” T&C 151:15 This was early, likely about 1829 when the Book of Mormon translation was underway. But this was not the only time Adam was directly involved in Joseph’s dispensation. In 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery witnessed the following, “the Heavens were again opened to their view, and they saw and beheld, and were endowed with knowledge from the beginning of this creation to the ends thereof. And they were shown unspeakable things from the sealed record of Heaven, which man is not capable of making known, but must be revealed by the Powers of Heaven. They beheld Michael, the archangel, Gabriel, and Raphael, and divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the end of time, showing in turns their dispensations, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the Powers of their Priesthood; giving line upon line, precept upon precept; endowing them with knowledge, even here a little and there a little; holding forth hope for the work God was yet to perform, even the revelation of all things which are to come upon the earth until the return of the Lord in glory with His holy angels — to pour out judgment upon the world, and to reward the righteous. And they were unable to take it in; therefore, they were commanded to pray and ask to comprehend by the power of the spirit, to bring all things to their remembrance, even the Record of Heaven which would abide in them.” T&C 157:30-32

As this revelation shows, it is one thing to receive a revelation and another thing to comprehend it. How much or what Oliver took in from the experience is never clarified by him. Joseph’s efforts to take it in resulted in him recounting in 1842 the following about his experience: “And the voice of Michael the archangel, the voice of Gabriel, and of Raphael, and of diverse angels from Michael, or Adam, down to the present time, all declaring each one: Their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power of their Priesthood. Going line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, giving us consolation by holding forth that which is to come and confirming our hope.” T&C 151:15-17

The people did not appreciate the effort heaven took to prepare Joseph for the Lord’s work. Joseph tried to explain on August 13, 1843 in a talk following Elias Higbee’s death. He declared: “Had I inspiration, revelation and lungs to communicate what my soul has contemplated in times past there is not a soul in this congregation but would go to their homes and shut their mouths in everlasting silence on religion till they had learned something. Why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God when all things with you are so uncertain?” JSP Documents, Vol. 13, p. 34 (punctuation and spellings corrected)

Joseph Smith was laboring to establish the conditions that would allow Adam’s work (under Christ’s direction) to proceed far enough for the people to be gathered, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. When Joseph’s efforts are carefully considered, several things are clear:

To make it possible for gathering to occur a great deal of effort is required on both sides of the veil. From beyond the veil Adam and dispensation holders down to the present are involved in establishing the framework for gathering. It is not simply a matter of understanding religious concepts, but requires actual familiarity with dispensations, rights, keys, honors and Priesthood including establishing again on the earth the Holy Order, which was at the beginning.

Joseph was instrumental in getting the process commenced. But it failed to result in the Lord gathering His people and returning in glory to judge the world. Joseph was, and is, rejected. While Joseph was confined in a prison in Liberty, Missouri, the Lord explained, “The ends of the earth shall inquire after your name, and fools shall have you in derision, and hell shall rage against you, while the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under your hand. And your people shall never be turned against you by the testimony of traitors[.]” T&C 139:7 This explains the failure: the derisive and insulting way in which Joseph was (and still is) regarded by fools. The anger and opposition from hell itself. And the testimony of traitors who insinuate they know more than they do and who regard an innocent man as guilty and corrupt. The wicked projected their sins, ambitions and pride upon the Lord’s servant Joseph–and they do still today. Consequently they were not gathered because they rejected the Lord, rejected the invitation, and abused His servant Joseph.

The Lord’s pattern has been established, followed, and will not change from dispensation to dispensation. The Lord directs, Adam establishes and guides the process, and the possibility of gathering is offered by the Lord. Again and again the Lord’s offers return. How often it has been done by the Lord is never stated directly, but is mentioned only in lamentation: “How often would I have gathered you… but you would not.” It was not Joseph’s failure to make it the last dispensation. It was those who would not be gathered.

It is puzzling and discouraging to consider the last dispensation. Why are people not content to be gathered? Why do they want to break the boundaries and push forward when the Lord asks for patience?

We have this parable in our scriptures: “The Lord brought people whom he had chosen to the mouth of the pass, and there he told them to wait for him, and he went away. The people did not wait for Him, but began to move forward into the narrow pass. The beast killed some and injured others, and none were able to pass through. After great losses, many deaths, and terrible suffering, the people chosen by the Lord withdrew and departed from the mountain. After four and five generations, the Lord again brought some few back to the pass and again told them to stay at the mouth of the pass and wait on Him. But again there were those who tired of waiting, for they could see in the distance the glory of the Fathers and they desired to be there. These, being overtaken by their zeal, did not wait, but moved into the pass where again the beast killed or hurt them. Among those who waited, however, was a man who knelt and prayed, and waited patiently for his Lord. After a great time, the Lord came to this man and took him by the hand and led him into the pass where the great beast guarded the way. As the Lord led, however, the beast was ever occupied with attacking others, and therefore its back was turned to the Lord and the man. And so they passed by unnoticed, safely to the top. The Lord sent the man to the Fathers who, when they saw the man, inquired of him, How came you to be here and yet mortal; the last who came here were brothers who had been slain, and you are yet alive? And the man answered, I waited on the Lord and he brought me here safely.” T&C 163:2-4

The parable appears to be about our day and ends without answering the question of whether any others will be led safely through the pass. If the pattern followed from the days of Adam holds true, then the one who safely connected with the Fathers will be used to return and bring others back with him through the journey. Joseph never got that chance. At some point there will finally be a last dispensation which will welcome the returning Lord. We may not live to see it, but we can help by doing what we are asked by the Lord. “Therefore, care not for the body, neither for the life of the body, but care for the soul and for the life of the soul. And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience you may possess your souls, and you shall have eternal life.” T&C 101:6

I finally began reading my copy of Volume 13: Documents of the Joseph Smith Papers. It covers events between August and December of 1843. I have made the following observations from reading the first 44 pages of the volume:

In the front of Volume 13 there is a “Timeline of Joseph Smith’s Life” with a number of misleading entries. Here are a few:

“1823 First Vision of angel Moroni.”

The histories written by Joseph Smith named the angel “Nephi” in 1838, 1839 and 1841. It would be more accurate to refer to “Nephi” or leave it with “an angel.”

“1833 Bible revision ended…”

Joseph never published the finished text, and continued to revise the Bible even in this volume of 1843 documents. For example, on page 38 of this same Volume 13 in a discourse on 13 August 1843 Joseph corrected the language of a passage in Malachi: “he said it should read and he shall turn the hearts of the children to the covenant made with their fathers…” (Underline in original.) It is incorrect, therefore, to state the revision ended in 1833.

“1835 Organized Quorum of the Twelve Apostles…”

Joseph did not call or ordain the Twelve. In 1835, the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, were asked by Joseph Smith to choose the first twelve members of the newly announced quorum of the twelve. The witnesses made their choices at a meeting on February 14, 1835. The three witnesses were also the ones who ordained the twelve chosen men as apostles between February and April 1835.

“1838 Moved from Ohio to Missouri. Surrendered to Missouri Militia…”

This is misleading because it would be far more accurate to say Joseph fled a mob of disaffected Kirtland residents who were trying to kill him in 1838. His flight took him to Missouri.

As for “surrendering” to the Missouri Militia, he was tricked into captivity through betrayal. While Far West was under siege, a delegation of 5 men led by George Hinckle and included Reed Peck and John Corrill, were sent to negotiate terms for a peaceful resolution. They went to meet the militia under a white flag, with instructions to “beg like a dog for peace,” because Joseph said he would “rather go to the State prison himself for twenty years or else die, than have my people exterminated.” (John Corrill, A Brief History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Commonly Called Mormons Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church, (St. Louis, 1839), pp. 40-41.)

The negotiations failed. One of the five representatives, George M. Hinckle, sent a private message to General Lucas asking to meet alone. Lucas met with Hinckle and learned there were four conditions demanded to end the conflict: 1. Give up the Mormon leaders to be tried and punished. 2. To make payment to the Missouri citizens and militia by transferring all their property, and agree to indemnify for all damages done by Mormons. 3. All Mormons must leave Missouri, and would be protected by the militia in their retreat. 4. To surrender all their arms of any description. (General Lucas Letter to Governor Boggs, November 2, 1838.)

Hinckle accepted the terms. Lucas demanded compliance with the first term by the surrender of Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Parley Pratt and George Robinson immediately. He insisted it be done within an hour.

 Hinckle returned to Far West but did not disclose the terms he had accepted. Instead he only reported General Lucas would meet with Joseph and the other four leaders. They agreed. All five then went out from Far West understanding they were to be received as a delegation to discuss resolving the conflict.

Joseph did not intend to surrender on October 31, 1838. He thought he was on a visit to negotiate with the commander of the militia. Instead he and those with him were immediately seized and imprisoned. He and those who accompanied him were disarmed, chained and brought into camp as prisoners. His later account recorded, “judge of my surprise, when instead of being treated with that respect which is due from one citizen to another, we were taken as prisoners of war and were treated with the utmost contempt. The officers would not converse with us, and the soldiers, almost to a man, insulted us as much as they felt disposed, breathing out threats against me and my companions.” (DHC 3:188-189.)

“1844 Revelation of plural wives and eternal marriage received.”

I won’t belabor the dubious provenance for this claim, but will just state it is disputable and disputed whether this is true. Volume 13 equivocates about all the details precisely because this is a dubious part of LDS history. For example, “Smith’s first plural wife was likely…” p. xxxii, ftnote 72. “Lott and Murray were likely…” “most Latter-day Saints remained unaware that…” p. xxxiii. For these the historians are citing as support affidavits in 1869 and 1892. “It is possible Smith taught Sagers about the doctrine of plural marriage, but it is unclear…” p. xxxv. “Smith was not always successful in controlling the practice of plural marriage or putting down imitations of it.” Id. (Italics added.)

Using the Martha and Howard Coray journals as a source is dubious. The historians acknowledge that, at best, “one of them likely took nonextant notes of JS’s discourses.” P. 33. “Nonextant” means that they do not exist, and may never have existed. And on p. 36 the historians acknowledge that the Coray journals were written sometime between 1853 and 1855, a full decade or more after Joseph’s discourse.

These are a few of the things I have noted in my copy of Volume 13 in the first 44 pages. Although I am grateful for the work done to publish these documents, the historians providing the material clearly want to tell a different story than the documents alone would communicate. That is disappointing. It is not really “history” but an apology for LDS claims about events during Joseph Smith’s life to support their legitimacy as an institution. More often than not their telling of critical events is so threadbare it undermines their moral authority.

In 2014 the leadership of the LDS Church brought themselves under Divine condemnation (see, T&C 166:3). The evidence of decline of the LDS Church since then has been startling, and is accelerating in almost every measurable category. Member activity has decreased, youth are not serving missions at the same rate, and temple activity has slowed. There is a constant out-flow of disaffected members. I am not cheering this decline on, and mourn to see it underway.

As their decline increases, many of their former members are not content to depart in peace, but hold resentments, even anger at their former church. More often than not, their loss of faith in the LDS Church is not replaced with faith in another Christian denomination or non-Christian religion.

As this decline proceeds it will reach a tipping-point in Utah. As I’ve contemplated this I’ve become increasingly alarmed at the future prospects of social breakdown in Utah. The LDS Church runs Utah. They exert social, economic, political and religious influence in Utah that dominates the state. It provides stability. I do not want to see them failing, and hope their collapse will delayed for as long as possible.

I know many people who have served LDS missions, and later left the church. However, I do not know of anyone who looks back on their mission as a complete waste, and I have heard from friends who have become dis-believers who state that their mission helped prepare them for life. Even if they no longer trust the LDS leadership, and question many of their historic claims, they saw value in their time as missionaries. I think there is value. I encourage LDS missions, because they benefit the missionary in countless ways.

I still see value in what the LDS Church did to change my life. Although they are riddled with errors and incapable of needed reform, they do provide a social stability for their active members that is good for society. I hate to see them failing. But I do not see any chance they can reform. Their authority claims are dependent upon Brigham Young, and that position is untenable.

There is a true religion, and it was revealed first to Adam. The process of the ascent of man into Heaven to commune with God was always the heart of the true religion. Adam not only received and practiced that true religion, but by practicing it he obtained the “keys” of the faith and therefore it is through him that every subsequent dispensation of the gospel has been revealed.

Adam and Eve lived with God, and after being cast out, they retained a memory of living in God’s presence. Adam taught the first eight patriarchs born after him the religion of the Fathers, which involved direct communion, contact, and connection between mankind and God. It enabled the faithful patriarchal fathers to hear directly from the Lord His promise of eternal life, to seal them by covenant into His Heavenly Family, and establish them as God’s messengers to their posterity.

Despite nearly universal apostasy and rebellion against God while Adam lived, for 15 generations from Adam to Shem (Melchizedek) and Abraham to Joseph, the first Fathers were taught they could walk and talk with God, receive answers from Him, and return to His presence. This line of first or Patriarchal Fathers preserved the true religion to teach it to others during their lives. Their religion was Adam’s religion, and their understanding reached back to the Garden of Eden. They experienced visions, ascended into Heaven, obtained promises of exaltation, and were transformed by their experiences from men into angels of God.  Accordingly, angels ministered to fifteen generations at the beginning.

The majority of Adam’s family abandoned the truth. From the time of Adam, most people who have been given the opportunity to receive the fullness of the gospel in their respective dispensations have dwindled in unbelief. What records remain do not give a full picture of how much was anciently included in God’s temple.

From the Scriptures, it is clear many of those involved with the Holy Order—the first Fathers, as well as dispensation heads and prophets—were taught truth far beyond the doctrine of Christ.  Their understanding reached into and contemplated the heavens.

When the Holy Order is established in its fullness, there is one Patriarchal head appointed to stand as the husbandman-father, occupying the same position as the first Father (or Adam). When God set Adam at the head, “The tasks given to Adam are of a priestly nature: caring for sacred space. In ancient thinking, caring for sacred space was a way of upholding creation. By preserving order, non-order was held at bay.” This priestly responsibility was what Abraham sought. He explained that he wanted to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a Father of many nations, a prince of peace, and desiring to receive instructions and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a high priest, holding the right belonging to the Fathers. The Lord offered to return this lost fullness in Joseph Smith’s day, but the required conditions were not met. Therefore, the fullness was not “restored again” and remains to yet be restored.

The restoration of the Holy Order will return lost knowledge to the earth. The specifics have been withheld from scripture, but the scope of that knowledge has been referred to often. Abraham had the records of the first Patriarchs, and he described some of what was included in the sacred texts:

But the records of the Fathers, even the Patriarchs, concerning the right of Priesthood, the Lord, my God, preserved in my own hands. Therefore, a knowledge of the beginning of the creation, and also of the planets and of the stars, as they were made known unto the Fathers, have I kept even unto this day.

The first Fathers had teachings and beliefs that included much more than what has been preserved from Joseph Smith’s day. If we are faithful, we should expect greater information to be passed along to us. Knowledge to be revealed through the Holy Order will include information about the religious significance of the planets and stars as “signs” to establish “seasons,” as well as information about the beginning of this creation. At the beginning, “The order that God brought focused on people in his image to join with him in the continuing process of bringing order, but more importantly on the ordering of the cosmos as sacred space.”

Restoration of this true religion has begun, preliminary to winding up God’s great work. God is very active at present and has offered to complete the Restoration. Every individual must be godly and practice virtue for God’s work to succeed; and even then, we are no better than any other people even if God bestows greater knowledge to us. The difference consists in God’s willingness to direct us forward as He completes the promises and covenants He made to the Fathers. It is God’s presence, not our worthiness, which distinguishes those who receive the promised fullness.

There are two opposing forces at work, and God’s light still remains productive and positive. Because there is a necessary opposition, darkness and light are both growing. As the Restoration continues to roll out, more and more of its teachings, commandments, rights, privileges, and honors will become  available, although much of it will not be made public. This will create a growing contrast between the darkness of the world, failed institutions, and ambitious pretenders. Ignorance damns people, and the effort to get light and truth requires study, obedience, prayer, and revelation from God. The fog of lies and the foolishness of society should not make you despair. Instead, now is the time for us to hope for a better world. It should make us want to help establish a better society.

There is a great work that at this moment is still undone, a project that remains for a faithful people. It will require revelation from Heaven to be able to accomplish, and therefore, it will require people willing to receive new revelation. Although we may understand some few things about the Lord’s plans, what we know at present is relatively small in comparison with the fullness of the revelations yet to be restored.

To return a complete Restoration, a temple will be required. As the Lord revealed to Joseph, a temple is always required of God’s people:

For your oracles in your most holy places wherein you receive conversations, and your statutes and judgments for the beginning of the revelations and foundation of Zion, and for the glory, and honor, and endowment of all her municipals, are ordained by the ordinance of my holy house, which my people are always commanded to build unto my holy name. (T&C 141:12)

Knowledge that will unfold the mysteries of godliness and instruct in God’s path is designed to be embedded in the House of God. At this point, the prophecy waiting to be fulfilled states:

…when the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law… (Isaiah 1:5)

The required temple in Nauvoo was never completed. The fullness was not restored during Joseph Smith’s lifetime.

We have a daunting challenge before us. It will require minds, hearts, hands, and backs to accomplish it. Preparation needs to begin now. It will be followed by an orderly gathering—not in haste but with guidance from above.

There are great calamities soon to befall the world. God’s people are to escape the tribulation which shall descend upon you, that you may stand independent above all other creatures beneath the Celestial world (T&C 70:4) by the work they accomplish beforehand. God will instruct. But we must do the work.

The Lord is offering an opportunity. He has promised to labor alongside to help us reach the prophesied Zion. With His help, Zion is possible. But we can fail—and Zion be left for another people in another time.

Preparing people to welcome God remains the Restoration’s great objective. That will require all of us to humble ourselves before God and eagerly respond to the opportunity He offers us. When God sends a messenger, the message is God’s. Messengers, even if regarded as ‘angels’, are only mortal men and no better than any other. What matters is the message.

When the Lord returns to rule, everyone is going to be gathered into the governance of the Zion or Jerusalem; no one is going to be left out. And during the time that the nations of the earth are shaken until there’s a full end of all nations, what the Lord is intending to do is to protect all of those—wherever they are—that are His sheep, wherever they’re located, those individuals are as the Lord describes it: as if they are kept in the very palm of God. He’s going to look over them. There are going to be a lot of things that happen that seem very random, very disorganized, very chaotic, very fortuitous. It will seem like there’s nothing going on except bedlam. However, despite that, God’s hand will watch over and protect all of those that He holds in His hand. 

The Lord cares about everything, everywhere, all the time. And we are in an extraordinarily delicate balance—everywhere, everything that goes on. You may think your life doesn’t matter. However, your life reverberates everywhere—what you do, what you choose, how you live. Sodom would have been spared had there been a handful more to leaven. You’re supposed to be the leaven! You’re supposed to be the preservative. What you do, how you fight against individual compromise, what you do to hold on within yourself—however faint and flickering that candle is—everything you do to hold onto that matters! Everywhere—in the whole world!

God intends to re-establish the civilization on the other side of the Second Coming that will finally be a civilization in which men are at peace with one another, and men are at peace with nature. And that accomplishment needs to be achieved with a population of people that He preserves, that He has watched over, and that He intends to use to rebuild His kingdom on Earth. So, don’t think—wherever you are—that you’re not in plain sight of the Lord and that the Lord isn’t keenly aware of you, with an intention to include you in what His future plans are—because God is more aware of you individually than maybe you are even of Him.

This is the time that was promised thousands of years ago when God might gather together in one all things in Christ (both which are in Heaven and which are on earth), in him (T&C 140:4). 

To keep the promises, God will lead faithful people from all over the world to be gathered into one body of believers who will be commanded to begin building up of the New Jerusalem, which is hereafter to be revealed, that my covenant people may be gathered in one in the day that I shall come to my temple (T&C 26:8). 

The religion of the Fathers involved direct communion, contact, and connection between mankind and God by Adam and Patriarchs for fifteen generations. The Holy Order is an important part of the return of that direct association and communication. The original religion of the Patriarchs enabled the faithful to hear directly from the Lord His promise of eternal life. God would seal them by covenant into His Heavenly Family. We can, if faithful, obtain all that the original Fathers received from God at the beginning. Joseph Smith alluded to this in his comment, There are many teachers, but perhaps not many fathers. There are times coming when God will signify many things which are expedient for the well-being of the saints, but the times have not yet come, but will come as fast as there can be found place and reception for them. (T&C 139:12) The failure in Nauvoo was a failure that lost the offered restoration of the Holy Order.

As a servant of God, I say with His authority that these promises are true, and He intends to fulfill them for His covenant people Israel. The Lord’s “strange act” is approaching completion. The promises made to the first Fathers are being and will be vindicated. The Restoration has recommenced, and if we are faithful, it will not be paused or interrupted again. But there is much yet to be taught, and therefore much yet to learn.

The organizers of a conference in the Spring have asked me to put up an announcement about coming event:

Spring Conference 2023
The Answer to Prayer for Covenant as an assignment from the Lord: Love One Another as I Have Loved You

May 20-21, 2023
Davis Conference Center
Layton Utah

September 3, 2017 the Lord our God condescended to speak to a people, offering a covenant between Him and them. He required words be read to the people by His Servant. Those words, now among the scriptures approved and accepted by the Lord and the people, constitute assignment, instructions, and revelation from our God for all who wish to be His to follow.

His words in The Answer to Prayer for Covenant (T&C 157) establish as a primary assignment, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He has given us a task and assignment to join our hearts, to be one with Him and with one another.

In order to honor Him, and to show respect and gratitude to Him for His kindness and mercy in condescending to speak to us, a conference will be held May 20-21, 2023 at the Davis Conference Center in Layton, Utah. The conference organizers hope to bring the body together to try to learn together, discuss together, and understand more of the will of our Lord from the words He has given us. We hope to make an offering of ourselves together as a body to our Lord, asking together that He teach us, and be our guide.

www.springconference2023.com

Paul taught that the Law of Moses was a temporarily adopted schoolmaster intended to let those under the law recognize the Messiah when He came. As Paul put it: “the law was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made in the law given to Moses, [meaning until the Messiah came, for the law pointed to the need for a redeeming sacrifice which the Messiah would provide]…”

“…who [Moses] was ordained by the hand of angels to be a mediator of this first covenant (the law). Now this mediator was not a mediator of the new covenant, but there is one mediator of the new covenant, who is Christ, as it is written in the law concerning the promises made to Abraham and his seed. Now Christ is the mediator of life, for this is the promise which God made unto Abraham. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture has consigned all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.” NC Gal. 1:10-11 That law merely made all ‘sinful’ as part of its purpose.

Paul then clarifies, “Wherefore, the law was our schoolmaster until Christ, that we might be justified by faith; but after faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” Id.

The purposes of the law included condemning, and convicting all of their sin, so they would feel the need for a Savior. Being unable to measure up, they should then appreciate having a Divine Sacrifice for sin to redeem them. Today the Law of Moses cannot even be attempted, for there is no temple, and there are no daily sacrifices to be performed. How much more, then, does the law condemn those who look to it as the means for obeying God when they cannot obey its rituals and sacrifices?

Paul is not alone in saying the Law of Moses was temporary and would end. Nephi also said it would end following Christ, and we should, “look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given; and after the law is fulfilled in Christ, that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.” NC 2 Ne. 11:8 Continuing it following Christ is to harden the heart against Him.

As Abinadi also prophesied, “I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses.” NC Mos. 8:1 He explained, “I say unto you that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses.” Id.

Christ visited the Nephites and declared to them: “Behold, I say unto you that the law is fulfilled that was given unto Moses. Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel. Therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfill the law; therefore, it hath an end. Behold, I do not destroy the prophets, for as many as have not been fulfilled in me, verily I say unto you, shall all be fulfilled. And because I said unto you that old things hath passed away, I do not destroy that which hath been spoken concerning things which are to come. For behold, the covenant which I have made with my people is not all fulfilled, but the law which was given unto Moses hath an end in me.” NC 3 Ne. 7:2 Meaning that future, unfulfilled prophecies would still be kept, but the law was completed and now done away with, and was no longer to be observed because it had ended.

If that were not clear enough, the Book of Mormon then clarified that following the Lord’s appearance and teaching of a new standard, freeing them from the Law of Moses, “they did not walk anymore after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses[.]” NC 4 Ne. 1:2

From time to time there are those who still think the Law of Moses is to be observed. That, of course, is both untrue and unscriptural. Whatever value there is in understanding the Law of Moses, and there is some tremendous value in comprehending the underlying lessons that law intended to teach, the law itself is done, finished, and no longer to be observed. It was because of the fulfillment of the Law of Moses that God had the Temple at Jerusalem destroyed. The daily sacrifices and observances could not continue. Jesus told His disciples, “Truly I say unto you, there shall not be left here upon this temple one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” NC Matt. 11:1 When Titus burned the Temple and tore it down in 70 ad, he acted in fulfillment of God’s purpose to end the practice of the Law of Moses.

There will not be a revival of that law. As Joseph Smith prophesied, “It is not to be understood that the Law of Moses will be established again, with all its rites and variety of ceremonies. This has never been spoken of by the prophets, but those things which existed prior to Moses’ day, namely sacrifice, will be continued.” T&C 140:21

Joseph commented further, “It may be asked by some, What necessity for sacrifice, since the great sacrifice was offered? In answer to which, If repentance, baptism, and faith existed prior to the days of Christ, what necessity for them since that time?” Id. I would add, if a temple were built and animal sacrifice were continued, the reasons for continuing it would be well understood by those involved.

Sunday evening at 6 pm Mountain Standard Time I will be speaking to a small group on the subject of “Righteousness.” The plan is to broadcast it live on YouTube at this link which I hope will work Sunday evening (If need be I’ll put a new link up later:

I got this question in an email about the recorded language from when the covenant was presented in Boise, Idaho in 2017. I paraphrase the question below:

“Today we noticed that the scriptures say, ‘I will teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world and your understanding will reach unto Heaven.’ while you in the recording of the covenant when it was presented in 2017 said, ‘I will teach you things which have been [kept] hidden…’ This raises the question of whether this changes the ordinance?”

Rather than give my answer to the question, I inquired of the Lord and got the following response: “When the king sends a messenger to deliver his letter, and the messenger delivers the message by reading it with a stammering tongue, but hands the letter to the recipient, then the letter can be read, and the messenger has been faithful to his king. The letter stands as the king’s word, and the messenger has done his part.”

Joseph Smith was not able to complete the restoration. That was due to many reasons, but first and foremost it was due to the disinterest of the early church. They just did not value the information offered by the Lord through Joseph.

Many people looked at Joseph Smith rather than looking to God, who was the one laboring with Joseph to establish the original religion taught first to Adam.

Joseph’s understanding so far exceeded the understanding of his contemporaries, that some of the most profound material given to us has not been included in LDS, RLDS (CofC) or other restorationist scriptures. One of the only talks Joseph Smith took the time to compose before giving exists in our scriptures as T&C Section 140. In that talk Joseph was trying to push back the veil and let us see the profound relationship between God and man, Christ and Adam, and our reliance upon Adam still, today, for salvation.

“He is Michael, because he was the first and father of all, not only by progeny, but he was the first to hold the spiritual blessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the salvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was first revealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from Heaven and will continue to be revealed from henceforth. Adam holds the keys of the dispensation of the fullness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all the times have been and will be revealed through him, from the beginning to Christ, and from Christ to the end of all the dispensations that are to be revealed.” T&C 140:3

Knowledge about, and contact with the Savior/Redeemer and Messiah first was given to Adam. He, the man Adam, at the time of that first revelation stood as surrogate for all his posterity. He gained the knowledge necessary for faith in Christ, because of his knowledge of Christ. This is why Adam came to possess the key or right to then reveal Christ to his posterity. That right of Adam has remained with him, and is his right still today.

If Christ is to be revealed to any descendant of Adam’s, it will be because Adam authorized that revelation to his descendant to take place.

Joseph tied this teaching to ordinances that are designed to reveal saving knowledge to Adam’s posterity. ” Therefore, he [Christ] 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.” T&C 140:6

The conditions for salvation were set before the world was created. Therefore the ordinances needed for salvation were also set before the world was created, and accordingly cannot be changed without interfering with man’s salvation. Joseph explained, “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, and Adam receiving his presidency and authority from Christ, but cannot receive a fullness until Christ shall present the Kingdom to the Father, which shall be at the end of the last dispensation.
“The power, glory, and blessings of the Priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination, only as their righteousness continued. For Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but not offering it in righteousness, therefore he was cursed. It signifies then that the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed, otherwise their Priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a blessing.” T&C 140:11-12

Adam holds presidency, or fatherhood, over all the human family. Abraham understood this in his day, and likewise sought to become a father, because this was part of the inheritance offered by Adam to those who receive the ordinances. Abraham stated that he, “sought for the blessings of the Fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same. Having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a Father of many nations,” precisely because this is what Adam’s right included. Abraham obtained this right and “became a rightful heir, a high priest, holding the right belonging to the Fathers. It was conferred upon me from the Fathers: it came down from the Fathers, from the beginning of time, yea, even from the beginning (or before the foundations of the earth) to the present time, even the right of the firstborn (or the first man — who is Adam — or first Father) through the Fathers unto me.” T&C 145/Abr. 1:1

Joseph was laboring to complete the restoration of this, but was slain before it could be completed. Had it been finished, like what he was able to restore, it would have been perverted, compromised and made a “cursing instead of a blessing” (as Joseph put it).

Joseph taught, “Thus we behold the keys of this Priesthood consisted in obtaining the voice of Jehovah, that he talked with him in a familiar and friendly manner, that he continued to him the keys, the covenants, the power, and the glory with which he blessed Adam at the beginning, and the offering of sacrifice which also shall be continued at the last time. For all the ordinances and duties that ever have been required by the Priesthood under the directions and commandments of the Almighty, in any of the dispensations, shall all be had in the last dispensations. Therefore, all things had under the authority of the Priesthood at any former period shall be had again, bringing to pass the restoration spoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets, then shall the sons of Levi offer an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord.” T&C 140:16-17

Adam will restore, because God will require, ordinances that are yet to be returned to mankind. Men cannot search this out and take it upon themselves to pretend to these things. Only Adam, with Christ’s approval and direction, and return in authority and vitality the ordinances of salvation. “God will not acknowledge that which he has not called, ordained, and chosen.” T&C 140:7

In one of the recent events I participated in someone posed the question, “What if I don’t like the religion of Adam?” The question amused me. The one propounding it has no idea what Adam’s religion includes. As the Book of Mormon puts it, “The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father. And no tongue cannot speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak. And no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.” NC 3 Ne. 8:4 However, I suppose the right answer to their ignorant inquiry is that they needn’t worry. Just like the people who lived with Joseph Smith, they will never have it given to them.

In the world to come there will be sadness about having rejected gifts offered by our common ancestor, Adam, the father of all mankind. Having failed to rise up and accept God’s invitation (and our first father’s invitation), it is written of them: “Nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are willing to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received. For what does it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.” T&C 86:4

Joseph Smith saw what needed to be done. But those who lived at that time were just uninterested in sharing in his vision. Jealous and ambitious rivals overthrew Joseph and in turn the restoration. Then what little he had restored was changed, rejected, corrupted and overthrown. It has proven to be a cursing to foolish people who now slavishly rely on a pretender’s “keys” to rescue them from their folly. But they are damned. Because damnation consists in having your way hedged up and your progress limited, so that you do not receive the saving ordinances Adam intends to restore. It is going to be done. But the institutions who have turned their backs on the restoration claim, “Hearken unto us and hear ye our precept, for behold, there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men.” NC 2 Ne. 12:1

They can only teach with their own learning, because the Spirit of God has withdrawn from them. And so they offer foolish and vain teachings, as foretold by Nephi. We, of course, can fall into the same bottomless pit of ignorance and despair, if we do not allow God to complete His work, and Adam to finish authorizing and prescribing the ordinances of salvation. Then, of course, they cannot be changed without God refusing to acknowledge them.

Hyrum Smith wrote a letter to the saints dated 15 March 1844 that I have been reflecting on for a few days. All of the letter is quite worth careful consideration and can be found in T&C 152. The second paragraph of the letter states:

“And again, I say unto you, an elder has no business to undertake to preach mysteries in any part of the world, for God has commanded us all to preach nothing but the first principles unto the world. Neither has any elder any authority to preach any mysterious thing to any branch of the church unless he has a direct commandment from God to do so. Let the matter of the grand councils of Heaven, and the making of gods, worlds, and devils entirely alone, for you are not called to teach any such doctrine — for neither you nor the people are capacitated to understand any such principles — less so to teach them. For when God commands men to teach such principles, the saints will receive them. Therefore, beware what you teach! For the mysteries of God are not given to all men; and unto those to whom they are given they are placed under restrictions to impart only such as God will command them, and the residue is to be kept in a faithful breast, otherwise he will be brought under condemnation. By this God will prove his faithful servants, who will be called and numbered with the chosen.”

It reminds me of the statement in Alma: “It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless, they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart — only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. 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 they 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.” NC Alma 9:3

Both Hyrum and Alma state that God’s mysteries are restricted, given only to a few, and guarded from being told openly by a commandment to not teach of them.

It occurs to me that those who are most interested in learning about great mysteries are perhaps diverted from giving attention to the “weightier matters” of God. (Christ’s list of those were: “the weightier things of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith. NC Matt. 10:31.)

In our day the “weightier matters” have been discussed by the Lord at some length in T&C 157. One excerpt states: “Take care how you invoke my name. Mankind has been controlled by the adversary through anger and jealousy, which has led to bloodshed and the misery of many souls. Even strong disagreements should not provoke anger, nor to invoke my name in vain as if I had part in your every dispute.” T&C 157:54

I’ve wondered if the command to guard God’s mysteries and the caution against invoking God’s name in vain as if He had part in our every dispute might be related. We stop reasoning together when anyone interjects into the conversation: “The Lord has revealed to me that….” Or, “God told me that…” Or, “I received a revelation on this question…” Or, “Let me tell you what God told me about that…”

When someone uses the “God-Card” in a conversation about an issue it signals that the person throwing down cannot yield a point. They are duty-bound as a matter of fidelity to “God’s word” to insist on their position prevailing.

What if God’s word to you was intended to be kept in your “faithful breast” (as Hyrum put it)? What if it was meant only for you, and not for me to hear? What if the purpose of God’s answer to you was to allow you to participate in the discussion, and not to force the end of a discussion? What if the word given to one, and a different word given to another, are intended to allow you to “reason together” and see more of the issue?

God does not have part in our every dispute. But He does want us to: “Forgive one another. Be tender with one another, pursue judgment, bless the oppressed, care for the orphan, and uplift the widow in her need, for I have redeemed you from being orphaned and taken you that you are no longer a widowed people. Rejoice in me, and rejoice with your brethren and sisters who are mine also. Be one.” T&C 157:50

There are so many things yet to be done, and so many difficult moments yet to be endured, that we should soberly assess how much effort we squander on foolish disagreements. “

“A fanciful and flowery and heated imagination be aware of, because the things of God are of deep import, and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Your mind, O man, if you will lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest considerations of the darkest abyss, and expand upon the broad considerations of eternal expanse. You must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble are the thoughts of God than the vain imagination of the human heart? None but fools will trifle with the souls of men.
“How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations: too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God, according to the purposes of his will from before the foundation of the world[.]” T&C 138:18-19

It is vulgar, low, mean and condescending when we demand someone surrender their position in a discussion because we use the “God-Card” to announce the final decision. In one place the Lord says, “Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord.” (NC Isa. 1:3) and in another place the Lord admonishes us, “Study to learn how to respect your brothers and sisters and to come together by precept, reason, and persuasion, rather than sharply disputing and wrongly condemning each other, causing anger.” (T&C 157:54)

It appears that the Lord wants us discussing important and worthy things. Things that require sober and solemn thought. And He wants it to be accomplished ponderously, and with care. Perhaps, if it is done correctly, it will elevate us all. Clearly it will please God.

In writing this I do not imply that there are not other matters, mysteries if you will, that are sacred and not to be discussed openly. There are obviously many matters that God withholds from mankind. Those are revealed to be kept in the faithful breast and not dispensed to others (unless by command from God, to whom those mysteries belong).

An online meeting has been organized for Saturday, October 22 on Zoom.