Book of Mormon - removing the condemnation

Removing the Condemnation

Book of Mormon - Removing the condemnationIn 1832 the Lord put the entire Church under condemnation.  However, in His tender mercies, He gave us an opportunity to remove that condemnation.  Will we take advantage of this loving opportunity, or will we wait until it is too late and miss this chance to receive the blessings of Zion?

D&C 84: 54And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received— 55Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.  56And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. 57And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written— 58That they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. 59For shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto you, Nay.

In the April 1986 General Conference, President Ezra Taft Benson (as President of the Church), said that the Church continued to be under the condemnation put upon them by the Lord 154 years earlier.

So what specifically are we under condemnation for, and how did the Lord say we could have it removed, and how would we know it was removed?

The Lord explains that our minds have been darkened because of our unbelief and because we don’t treat the things that God has given us with the seriousness needed.  The Lord then goes on to say that we are vain, and that vanity, along with our unbelief has caused our condemnation.

How are we vain?  What don’t we believe?  Are there doctrines and teachings of the gospel that make us uncomfortable or that we outright reject?  What things has the Lord given us that we (as a general rule) treat lightly?

In verse 57 the Lord starts to explain how to remove the condemnation and the marvelous blessings we can receive if we choose to do so when He says we will be under condemnation until we repent.  He is talking to the people in general, so this is not some random personal sin, but something that the people are doing as a whole. What sins are we committing as a people?

Many limit their thinking of this condemnation to that of the use of the Book of Mormon, and if we were to just use the Book of Mormon more, the condemnation would be removed on that basis alone.  However, this is not the case. The Lord clearly says that we need to repent because we have forgotten the Book of Mormon AND the commandments that were formerly given, and then the true indictment, he says we need to do/obey the things He has commanded.

It seems clear that with his words “not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written” that we have fallen into a state described by the Lord when He came to the boy Prophet that very first time and said, “they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” We need to not only talk the talk, but more importantly, we need to walk the walk, or as the Apostle James said, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

It is clear that since we are still under the condemnation that we are still to remember the Book of Mormon, (and this is only getting worse with in ever increasing amount of members -often labeling themselves “New Order Mormons”- saying that it is inspired fiction, not a literal record of the ancient inhabitants of the America’s) and we are still not being “doers of the word”.

This is my personal fault and responsibility as much as it is anyone else’s, and I must take personal account for the revelations of God that I fail to remember in my regular activities as well as the covenants I have made and treat them with the seriousness they are warranted.  If I want the condemnation to be removed, I must not wait for others, being commanded in all things , but start now to act upon the commandments of God no matter how uncomfortable or unpopular they may be, because my current course of slothfulness and forgetfulness of the Lord and His commandments has only maintained that 179 year old condemnation, missing out on the fruit of the Fathers Kingdom and the true joy  obedience to God brings.

9 thoughts on “Removing the Condemnation”

  1. Why dont new order mormons just join the community of christ church? it is basicley the kind of mormon church they are trying to create alredy.

  2. My thoughts:

    Well — the Book of Mormon is a record of angelic sermons, or words of Christ received through angelic means. It is designed to be this way so that when the Lamanites receive it, they will, like their ancestors, seek to obtain a manifestation of its truth through angelic ministration (also called “by the power of the Holy Ghost), and once again repeating and initiating the ancient gospel given to the Nephites.

    In order to see eye-to-eye on angelic ministration, one must have a preacher preaching a message received through the means of angels. That is what the Book of Mormon is. So, the Lamanites then, when they read of Nephi’s visions, or Lehi’s, or Jacob’s or Alma’s or any one of the angelic visitations and declarations found in the record — they will be able to put that word in their hearts and exercise faith and pray down the angels to manifest the same things to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.

    This was the intent and faith and prayers of the ancients for this record, to jump start the Lamanites and to give them the same gospel which the ancient inhabitants lived.

    At the same time, the Gentiles who obtained the book also has access to the same gospel, and could obtain it if they wanted it. The angelic word is there for Gentiles too, if they wanted to apply it as the Lamanites of a future day are to.

    But history has shown the Gentiles to be a hard-hearted, faithless bunch. Joseph Smith tried to get the people to see what he saw, to behold the same visions, to see the same angels, to receive the same message (in other words, to accept the gospel given to the Nephites) but the Gentile church is more or less content with having one man in charge who receives from the Lord, and then having that man (or a small group of men) tell them what to do. Joseph was only able to get a few individuals to behold the marvelous power of God that he beheld, everyone else pretty much rejected the eye-to-eye doctrine found in the Book of Mormon.

    Hence the condemnation found upon the church today.

  3. It is interesting, … I was thinking about what the Lord said, about us being under combinations for a couple weeks now. I have never heard of the “new order mormons” but my testimony of the Book Of Mormon has always been based upon the witness of the spirit. I know it is the true record of the peopl of Nephi and the Lamanites and Jaredites. I’ve been reading a lot of books, like the “5000 Year Leap” and “The making Of America” And “The Great Prologue”. I’m trying to be a better patriotic citizen, but I have neglected The Book Of Mormon. For now on, I will make time to read the book of mormon!

  4. I like what Ezra Taft Benson. ” When obedient ceases to be an irritation and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.” Can it not be sad, when obedience ceases to be an irrigation and becomes are quest, in that moment God will remove the condemnation.

  5. Thanks, Ezra, for another thought provoking and insightful post. The Book of Mormon has constant referrals to the character traits ideally possessed or sought after by his disciples (saints) with vivid examples of individual and societal consequences. Perhaps we have failed to strive to find and personally obtain these traits as our own.

  6. Ezra, the condemnation mentioned in D&C 84 is one of those fascinating Gospel topics that has intrigued me ever since I first read of it some 39 years ago, therefore, I have dedicated a considerable amount of time and study, seeking the further light and knowledge that might be available to me about this matter, focusing on the words of latter-day prophets. After all, this is a very serious matter, one not generally addressed during Church meetings, and one not generally popular either to our congregations, or to those priesthood leaders having “itching ears” who refrain from saying much of anything that might make the members feel guilty. I myself, after quoting thusly from D&C 84, and Ether 8:24-25, was actually placed on probation by my branch president. My stake president sanctioned this discipline, stating that reading such things to our branch members was “negative pessimisms”. I kidd you not.
    Yes, keeping the “former commandments” is essential to our salvation and exaltation, but the Lord specifically mentioned the Book of Mormon. Why? The pinpoint answer is found in Ether 8:21. Speaking of secret combinations, it says “And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking(the Jaredites), and also the destruction of the people of Nephi”. Moses 5:29-31 tells us that Cain formed a secret combination in order to murder his brother Abel. His wickedness spread like a cancer until all mankind were swept from the earth, save for Noah and his family. Now, here is the clincher, the most sobering realization: The children of Adam were all destroyed, thousands of them, because of their support of and dependence upon a secret combination. So were the Jaredites and the Nephites. We are therefore the fourth civilization to inhabit this continent, the first three having been annihilated because of their acceptance of satanic secret combinations. We are speaking here of literally millions of men, women, and children, maybe tens of millions, the majority of whom suffered death in a most cruel manner, with rivers of their blood running downhill. Therefore, what can be more important than learning from their mistakes in order to prevent America from suffering the same fate, especially considering the fact that the wholesale slaughter of these people occurred because of their wickedness, so they died in their sins, the most serious of sins, with the most awful eternal consequences?
    The Book of Mormon is the only or at least the best source of such information. How can otherwise intelligent people be cunningly deceived over time into first accepting satanic secret combinations, and then eventually becoming fully supportive of them, and dependent upon them. The very clear answer to that question is found in Helaman 6:38-39. Verse 39 should be read first in order to obtain the correct perspective for verse 38. Verse 39 tells us that “they(the secret combination) did obtain the sole management of the government,…”. In other words, the secret combination was not the de jure government of the Nephites, but it was the de facto government, the only one that counted, the only one with actual power and authority. Now, keeping this in mind, let us consider verse 38. Verse 38 tells us that the Nephites, unlike the Lamanites, “…did build them(the secret combination) up and support them, beginning at the more wicked part of them, until they had overspread ALL the land of the Nephites, and had seduced the more part of the rightous until they had come down to believe in their works and PARTAKE OF THEIR SPOILS, and to join with them in their secret murders and combinations.” If this does not describe to the letter the America of today, nothing does. Let us be honest about this. What percentage of active LDS today (“the more part of the rightous”) have not been “seduced” into believing in the works of the secret combination that has obtained the “sole management” of our government? In other words, what percentage of active LDS are not partaking of the spoils of this secret combination, which is to say spoils like social security, medicare, food stamps, WIC, AFDC, subsidized housing, etc? Maybe 10%, if that high? And what percentage of active LDS oppose our secret murders of foreign heads of state and their people as a whole as described by John Perkins in his book “Confessions of An Economic Hit Man”? Maybe 10%, if that high? I actually overheard a temple recommend-carrying former bishop say that we should consider killing all 80 million people in Iraq before any of them could kill any of us. He was dead serious. Excuse the pun. I was appalled. When I tried to reason with him about this, about how unchristlike such an attitude was, he ridiculed my words: “Our government says that Iraq destroyed the WTC on 9-11-01, and that’s final, so let’s kill them all”! Unbelievable! When I ran for the sheriffs office a number of years ago, I actually had active LDS tell me they weren’t going to vote for me because the incumbent provided free transportation for their Mother or whoever to the charity hospital 90 miles away. When I asked them if it mattered that the sheriff had no authority to incur routine transportation expenses for parish residents, they said it did not.
    Well did President Benson speak when he said that the Book of Mormon exposes the falsehoods of SOCIALISM, humanism, etc, that it is a “great sifter” of men. It saddens me to no end to see how the BOM is getting less and less emphasis in the Church as time passes. Heavenly Father revealed to me its truthfulness in such a dramatic fashion that I could the more easily deny my own existence than deny its divine origin. I so look forward to getting the other two-thirds of the plates translated, and I even expect to some day be able to read the entire uncondensed record.
    So, the condemnation we are under is of our own making, not the Lords. We are busily doing what the children of Adam did, what the Jaredites did, and what the Nephites did, while apparently expecting different results. Albert Einstein said that such people are fools. You don’t have to be the smartest man who ever lived to figure that out.

  7. General observation. I note with curiosity that the seven Mormon Chronicles added to my inbox are between 6 and 5 years from their original release. My study suggests that comments on those seven subjects are not likely to plow much new ground and that fresh comment related to current events, especially events that have worldwide impact on our LDS culture as well as all others might light up active discussion, such as possible (1) weather engineering evidenced by strange new patterns observed in the storm movements of Katrina, Frankenstorm, Harvey, Irma and Jose; (2) the worldwide appearance of chemtrail patterns and their effect on soils, water, plants, human health;; and (3) the appearance worldwide of ET (extraterrestrial) vehicles, currently suppressed!

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