Hacking at Branches

Monday, January 11, 2016

Previous articles: The Plainness of God, Language of Condemnation.

This is a continuation of two other articles, listed above, on the language of the scriptures, and this is yet another perspective on the subject. I don't write a series of articles. I don't plan them. I write stuff as I ponder them and feel like I gain light another, and hopefully a clearer perspective.

This article, like most, does not stand alone. I'm coming from a perspective of understanding symbols in a way that's probably different from how you understand them. Given that, you also might want to read previous articles starting around 10/22/15 to gain a better perspective on where I'm coming from.

Is the language of condemnation used in the scriptures such as:

"Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell." (2 Nephi 9:34)

"Whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:22)

"I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me." (Exodus 20:5)

Therefore I command you to 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." (D&C 19:15)

"And he that looketh upon a woman to lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the Spirit; and if he repents not he shall be cast out." (D&C 42:23)

"Wherefore, I, the Lord, have said that the fearful, and the unbelieving, and all liars, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie, and the whoremonger, and the sorcerer, shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Verily I say, that they shall not have part in the first resurrection." (D&C 63:17-18)

"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;" (2 Thessalonians 1:8-9)

Is this language, not what God does to us, but the natural result of what we will do to ourselves if we continue down that path?

The commandments seem to me, to be more about addressing the branches of the problem and not the root.¹ The branches being lying, stealing, killing, whoredoms. You can never stop lying or being angry until the root of the problem is fixed. Until the fountain of bitterness is dug up. Until the accuser is cast down. The root of the problem is not knowing God, not knowing ourselves, not knowing our neighbor.

Is this why Denver said you can come to God with a load?²

When God appears we will choose whether to ascend the fearful mountian, or whether we will flee and call for the rocks to fall on us and hide us. God does not send us away, we send ourselves away. Man is his own condemnor.³

Do we flee because we believe in our own imperfection? Because we believe or have faith in the shame of the accuser? Because we have accused ourselves and filled ourselves with poison all of our lives? Is the result of this poison to look for relief, for love, which we have denied to ourselves, in places that are unnatural? Is the first step to cease sinning in our speech against ourselves,⁴ both internally and externally? If we return to the beginning, did God created perfection? And then, did we at first refuse⁵, but then begin to believe the lie of our imperfection and begin at that point to flee the presence of God. We become "possessed" by this "knowledge". Do we create a living hell inside our own mind?⁶ If we do, can we, by making a different choice, create the conditions of heaven?⁷ Does each of us considering ourselves Adam and Eve lend any support to this? God continues to call to us out of the Garden. And his gospel is "come and repent," or in other words, become as a little child and turn to Him.⁸ If part of Him is abiding in us, then is it Us, and not us, which meekly bears the weight of our iniquity? Our iniquity being self judgement, waiting for us until we have had enough. Sending the truest embodiment of God (Jesus) to us, to tell us what the Gospel given to Moses was always indended to convey: "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

Joseph said:

“If you do not accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no accuser you will enter heaven, and if you will follow the revelations and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins, I will over yours—for charity covereth a multitude of sins.” (History of the Church, 4:445.)

Is this why true servants endured with the corrupt?⁹ Those who saw their weakness¹⁰ until they had enough experience with God to know that they were loved, that God was in no rush. Does Charity cover sins, because it is only Charity that can dispel sins? Dispel is an interesting word. When we use knowledge to sin against ourselves, we use our words to cast spells upon ourselves, and being full of hexes, we begin to relate to others by using the word against them and to cast spells upon them.

If we go back to those who know not God, is this what is Aaronic? Looking at the branches of a problem and not the root, constantly judging and condemning like a "parade of fools."? Do we take statents like this from Mormon, and begin to lash each other,¹¹ instead of turning to God and seeing the "easiness of the way"?¹²

"Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write, saying: Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, and your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel." (3 Nephi 30:1)

Just before 4 Nephi, describing Zion the city of peace established by the Nephites, Mormon lists the branches. If we knew our true conditions in this world and if we were honest with ourselves, each one of these would sting us. And instead of seeing this as a merciful, loving reach where He says "Turn and face me, be baptized and become let that which is already holy in you overcome the accuser!" we continue to see, "ah, I am awful, I will never be good enough, I fight, but I continue to lose. I drag this anvil around and I am unworthy." The message stings and we are blinded by the sting and it is not understood. We leave, setting it aside, cast down until we, with all our heart, seek God.

Is this why repentance means turning to face God in preference to your sins? Denver described forsaking your sins as not necessarily being able to be free from them, but as desiring to know God above all else.¹³ The many branches of our sins, causing us to cry out¹⁴ until the death of our self is no longer preferable to facing the Cherubim.

Is the stinging intentional? Is the sting given in the hope that some will turn, and learn that which can only be learned by seeking with all their heart?¹⁵

On January 2, 2015, I contemplated:

Moses gave a law that measured outward performance. Christ did not destroy the law but moved it closer to the heart. But I believe the teachings he gave "blessed are the peacemakers," the parable of the sheep and goats etc., was still a measure of outward performance. It was a gauge for us to measure ourselves to determine if we have come any closer or not. I believe it is only revealed knowledge of Godliness that brings our hearts into a place where we can look at that sermon and say, "Yes, I see what that means, my heart begins to change, I am no longer fighting a losing battle!"

The heart cannot be described. "Love" is an abstract concept that doesn't exist in ancient languages.¹⁶ The only thing that can be described is what love does.

Is this, perhaps, why the scriptures speak of what is outward, what love "does," and what love "doesn't?" Not for us to spend all day hacking at branches, but in order to provide a gauge?

The Doctrine of Christ

The Doctrine of Christ is very simple. It is:

Repent and become as a little child (meaning, turn to God).
Be baptized. (Immersion is a symbol of the committment of the whole self, or the sacrifice of all things)
I will baptize you with fire.

Everything else is a branch, a teaching, a leaf of this core doctrine. The Doctrine of Christ is non-denominational, or perhaps "cross-denominational". Perhaps even the enlightened adherents of Buddhism and Hinduism can fall into this definition.¹⁷ Buddhists are not baptized,¹⁸ but Siddhartha Gautama gave up every earthly thing, including almost his own life to know God. If you strip away all the rituals, rituals can even include praying fervently three times a day, if you strip away the commandments you are left with the Doctrine of Christ. The result of knowing God, is a new vision and ability to keep the first commandment that Moses gave, as well as the two great commandments that Christ gave.

Notes

1. Psycologists, as well as Denver have suggested that focusing on not doing something actually causes the behavior to happen more.

Imagine a deep and dangerous pit in the center of your community. Your community has been given the commandment to stay out of the pit. Assuming no other commandment is given, it is the nature of almost all mankind that this one commandment would result in almost everyone falling into the pit sooner or later. Curiosity, rebellion, peer pressure, pride or some other vanity would lead to risk-taking around the pit and inevitable falling in. That is the nature of most of us during the teenage years, and many of us right into adulthood.

Those disposed to being “protectors of virtue” (i.e., busybodies) would post signs nearby to try to prevent people from falling into the pit. Yet while posting signs, such “protectors of virtue” oftentimes fall into temptation themselves, and many of them would fall, too. Of course, later, the “protectors” would add a handrail. Other precautions would follow. But these would do no good, for if the only commandment is a “thou shalt not,” then the failings would follow, while the precautions taken would invite further curiosity by the unconvinced, or rebellious, or curious. Precautions at one end invite further risks at the other, since it appears safer to take the risk.

The only sure way to prevent you from falling into the pit would be to give you something positive to do that will take you in another direction. Climbing a mountain would keep you so far from the pit there is no danger of falling. If you are headed away from the pit, you can never fall into it.

This basic notion underlies many of the commandments. The “thou-shalt-nots” get accompanied by positive commandments, as well. The Sermon on the Mount/Sermon at Bountiful is filled with positive injunctions to action. This positive approach toward what the Lord wants of you is not only more satisfying to the soul, it is also the only way to avoid the “thou-shalt-nots.” Trying merely by force of will to avoid some particular weakness or transgression will generally result in failure. Ask any addict how they overcame addiction. None of them will tell you they just managed to stop. They had to get involved in some wholesome, replacement activity. That is how the commandments work. Go away and do something good somewhere distant from the temptation, and you will find you can overcome every weakness. (The Second Comforter, Chapter 15, Doing and Being)

2. From Lecture 3, Repentance

"Doctrine and Covenants section 93:1: 'VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;' Every soul who 'forsaketh his sins.' You are not going to get past your sins until God forgives you. But you need to awaken to the fact that you possess them and turn from them. Because turning from them is repentance, it's turning to face Him. You can still have a load that needs to be dropped because we are all heavy laden with sin. But forsaking your sins means that you would prefer Him over everything else that there is. So turn and face him." (Lecture 3, Repentance)

3. "A man is his own tormenter and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man." (Joseph Smith, King Follet Discourse, TPJS p. 357)

4. "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven." (Luke, 6:37, IV)

5. "[LUCIFER:] Adam, here is some of the fruit of that tree. It will make you wise. [ADAM:] I will not partake of that fruit. Father told me that in the day I should partake of it, I should surely die. [LUCIFER:] You shall not surely die, but shall be as the Gods, knowing good and evil. [ADAM:] I will not partake of it. [LUCIFER:] Oh, you will not? Well, we shall see."

6. See footnote 3.

7. ...

8. From Lecture 2, Faith

"A friend reminded me of something this week. I coined a term, he suggested the idea. It’s important that you don’t think that before you wind up in the presence of the Lord you have the responsibility of making yourself absolutely spic and span. In terms of connecting with the Lord, it is essentially a "come as you are party." You are never going to be able to do the heavy lifting required to be clean in his presence. He does that, you don't. He extends the invitation, you accept it. It's a come as you are party." (Lecture 2, Faith)

From Lecture 3, Repentance

"Doctrine and Covenants section 93:1: 'VERILY, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;' Every soul who 'forsaketh his sins.' You are not going to get past your sins until God forgives you. But you need to awaken to the fact that you possess them and turn from them. Because turning from them is repentance, it's turning to face Him. You can still have a load that needs to be dropped because we are all heavy laden with sin. But forsaking your sins means that you would prefer Him over everything else that there is. So turn and face him."

From The Second Comforter

"'forsaketh his sins' i.e. through repentance and baptism, which is the only means God has ordained to forsake your sins." (Chapter 14, p. 291)

9. "But the scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" (Luke 5:30)

"Now this Melchizedek was a king over the land of Salem; and his people had waxed strong in iniquity and abomination; yea, they had all gone astray; they were full of all manner of wickedness; But Melchizedek having exercised mighty faith, and received the office of the high priesthood according to the holy order of God, did preach repentance unto his people. And behold, they did repent." (Alma 13:17-18)

10. "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness." (Ether 12:27)

11. "But the evil servant is he who is not found watching. And if that servant is not found watching, he will say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants, and the maidens, and to eat, and drink, and to be drunken." (Luke 12:54, IV)

Laman and Lemuel who praised the righteousness and heritage of the their people, also said the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us, and also beat Nephi and Sam.

12. "O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever." (Alma 37:46)

13. See footnote 8.

14. From Lecture 8, A Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit

"Everything that you have been put through, and every challenge that you have been given, and every weakness that you possess, have all been given to you in a studied way to bring you, hopefully, to your knees. To bring you, hopefully, to feel the chastening hand of God, so that you, in your day, in your circumstance, can look upon it all as a gift, because it surely is.

'I give unto men weakness that they may come unto me, and if they humble themselves and come unto me, I'll make weak things strong.' That is also in the book of Ether. It is an aside in which Moroni was complaining that the Gentiles were not going to believe his book. Moroni feared the Gentiles were not going to believe this record but would notice its weaknesses.

Ether chapter 12 verse 26: 'And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.' That's unavoidable. That's an inevitability. You stand in the presence of a just and holy being, you will realize your weaknesses. You are going to recognize what you lack.

'I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.'

How do weak things become strong? Not by fighting a battle you are going to lose. It is by appreciating as the brother of Jared did, the fact that none of us can come into the presence of God without feeling keenly this scripture. 'Fools mock, but they shall mourn.' This is Christ speaking. 'I give unto men weakness, [for one purpose], I give unto them weakness that they may be strong.'

That anvil you are dragging around was given to you by God as a gift. Don't curse it. Pray for God to come and lift it. You are never going to be able to get far carrying it anyway. You may not even be able to lift it, but in the economy of God, that is a gift. A gift! Not for you to act upon, nor to surrender to, but for you to fight against in humility and meekness and to say, 'I'm not winning. I haven't won. It goes on and on, and yet still I fight against it.' When will you finally come to Him and cry out?"

15. See article: Language of Condemnation.

16. See Ancient-Hebrew.org

17. From Road to Emmaus

“If we’re straight and narrow, we must be rigid. You know sometimes, the best to conform to the surface is to be limber, is to be adaptable, is to be willing to accept some new ideas….

“I think that what we have restored to us anticipates that there will be other streams of thought which converge with our own, and as they converge with our own, those other streams of thought are going to inform us about ideas we haven’t quite got our hands around yet.

“I think as we grow into the Buddhist world, Buddhist converts to the church are going to bring to our attention understanding about the Book of Mormon that we don’t penetrate just yet. I believe that Islam is going to bring to us some understandings and insights from the Book of Mormon that we won’t get without them. I believe that the Gospel program was intended to welcome these divergent streams of thoughts and to help us flush it out and to help us see, ‘Ah, there’s more to this than we in our little narrow, western vantage point have yet been able to discern.’” (Denver Snuffer, Road to Emmaus, questions and answer session. Disk 3, Track 3-4)

From a blog post: Part 2 of Passing Up the Heavenly Gift,

“Mormonism is a faith which simply cannot be confined to a single tightly controlled confession of faith, because it was always designed to "comprehend all truth." Think about that for just a moment. If it encompasses all truth, then it is vast in scope. Endless, really. So, at any given moment, Mormons will include those who are beginning to study the faith, those who have brought a background in Buddhism, those who have a foundation in science, or any number of other pre-conversion talents, capacities and preferences. These new believers will use those backgrounds to search into the Gospel.

“Those varieties of talents were always intended to be a blessing, even a strength, to the restoration. Any requirement for absolute uniformity will not permit those who have vastly different capacities to share in faith, even though they are honest, believing and acceptable to God.” (Denver Snuffer)

From Communication From the Lord:

"The closest image I have seen to the glory shown by a resurrected, glorified, celestial personage is the upper pattern, in gold, imprinted onto the Dome of the Rock Mosque. When I saw it for the first time a few months ago, I was startled by the pattern and its radiant glory. It is the closest earthly pattern I have seen to depicting a Celestial Glory. I do not know who fashioned the pattern, but they were depicting something that I recognized to be inspired by what lies beyond the veil and patterned after Celestial Glory itself.

"(I'm talking about the interior finish, with the pattern shown there. The appearance of the pattern is very much like the "cloven tongues of fire" which one sees in Celestial Glory. I apologize that I don't have a link to give where you can see that artwork. But it is interior, not the exterior.)"

18. "And James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldst do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them. What will ye that I should do unto you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" (Mark 10:35-38)

Hacking at Branches

The Doctrine of Christ

Notes

See Also