Scriptures teach that Christ will return “in the beginning of the seventh thousand years”[1]—a time at which we have arrived. In March 2000, Elder Boyd K. Packer said the seventh millennium has begun[2] and, in conference held in my stake in March 2009, Elder John M. Madsen confirmed this as well.[3] In this same address, Elder Madsen further noted that he had been asked to “be positive” when talking to the saints. He then proceeded: “I am positive that all the destructions foretold in the scriptures will occur!”[4]
Likewise, I believe these are, and will be, difficult days. President Howard W. Hunter declared that “all dispensations have had their perilous times, but our day will include genuine peril”. President Monson more recently reminded us that “[w]e have come to the earth in troubled times. The moral compass of the masses has gradually shifted to an ‘almost anything goes’ position.”[5] We have also been warned that God’s judgments are soon to be poured out without measure.[6] In light of this, there is comedy in the fact that NO FEAR[7] is the slogan of the generation in which fear shall come upon every man.[8] Notwithstanding all we face, Sister Julie B. Beck reminded us that “the Lord is not apologizing that we live in troubled times.”[9] I testify that God is with us and will prevail.
Of the challenges we face today, one of the greater is the war in which we are presently engaged. Concerning this present conflict, Elder Packer said:
You too live in a time of war, the spiritual war that will never end . . . . Your world at war has lost its innocence. There is nothing, however crude or unworthy, that is not deemed acceptable for movies or plays or music or conversation. The world seems to be turned upside down.[10]
Although all are involved, not all are equally engaged—some are not even mindful that the war exists. This lack of awareness partly stems from the fact that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against the unseen rulers of darkness.[11] A more dreadful cause for ignorance of the conflict is that some may have embraced the world of darkness.
But living in this world does not mean we must accept it. Although raised in difficult circumstances, Abraham, for example, still sought for that city “whose builder and maker is God.”[12] And although the conduct of others prevented him from realizing his dream, Abraham’s quest yet yielded him precious fruit, for the personal journey he made within, while seeking for the city above, resulted in him becoming that for which he sought; in seeking for Zion, he became Zion—the pure in heart.
Zion, we have been taught, is soon to be established and, with it, peace. But this does not mean there won’t be casualties in the unseating of Satan. It is, therefore, good to be reminded that he was denied a body and desired all to become likewise miserable.[13] Having failed, he sought to take possession of the bodies of those still qualified to receive them. Although this plan similarly failed, he continued a strategy to take custody of our bodies—if not by force, then with our consent.
When Israel rebelled, the Lord warned that He would bring the worst of the heathen against them to possess their houses, and defile their holy places.[14] Although Babylon afterwards engaged in this campaign against Israel, the truest application of Ezekiel’s prophecy is for us—for the apostle Paul warned that, before the Lord’s Coming, Satan would “sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”[15] Notably, the temple referred to is our bodies—the only house that Satan desires to possess and defile.[16] This is confirmed in modern revelation[17] wherein it is also announced that Babylon is the final approach Satan devised to possess our bodies. The suggestion that he has already entered them was recently made when Elder Packer declared that “largely because of television, instead of looking over into that spacious building, we are, in effect, living inside of it.”[18]
Babylon is no longer an empire with borders and an earthly king. It now embraces all nations[19] and is ruled over by Satan himself. It is a woman arrayed in costly apparel[20] with a cup in her hand;[21] and as all nations have drunk of her wine, they have ventured into her captivity. She is the whore of all the earth and association with her is what the scriptures call whoredoms. She is also the tares[22] of the earth[23] and, therefore, stages a distinctive threat to wheat[24]—a threat heretofore[25] identified as “flattery of prominent men in the world, false educational ideas, and sexual impurity.”[26] Consistent with the last of these perils, she enjoys dark rooms, vacant lots, black-light parties, loud music, and crude language. She likewise indulges in recreational romance, Levi®-loving, dirty dancing, unnatural affection, and views pornography of any degree so long as its effect is to arouse. Of lesser severity, but with equal defiance, she puts on tight jeans, displays cleavage, wears dresses above the knee, and indefensibly sports dark leggings to cloak the tininess of her dress. She enjoys idleness and something akin to it called video games that produce no growth of either mind or body. She’s for herself[27] and, thus, spends careless hours with I phones®, I Pads®, IPods®, ITunes®, and I Facebook®!
Though this inventory is meant to highlight faults with which some of this generation struggles, I want to add a point of which all should take careful note—that in her is found the blood of prophets.[28] For good reason did Alma write:
And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?
Behold, will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?[29]
This singular caution should keep all who call themselves saints fully disinterested in her merchandise and responsive to the cry to come out of her.[30]
Therefore, the first invitation I extend is to carefully examine your association with Babylon; ask yourself if you are keeping your temple holy, unsoiled of her blood, abstinent of her wine, and stripped of her apparel. Can there be any question that keeping laws of chastity extends to not being joined to her? If your life touches hers in the least, repent and cast her aside.[31]
In light of this invitation, I would like to next examine two commandments: 1) Go ye out from Babylon, and 2) Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.”[32] I begin by making several relevant observations:
First, one cannot go out from a place in which he or she does not exist;
Second, vessels are descriptive of instruments used in temple worship,[33] but can also be expressive of the true temple, God’s children;[34] and
Third, just as vessels can be characterized in two ways, the word bear can also have two meanings; with respect to vessels that were temple instruments, it was the duty of appointed Levites to bear such vessels.[35] With respect to vessels that are God’s children, it is the sacred duty of women to bear such vessels.[36]
Continuing, according to D&C 133:4, 16, these two commandments are given to the church, the Lord’s bride, which fact takes on significance in determining the meaning to give to the words bear and vessels. When dwelling on “going out from Babylon,” it is easy to envision Israel coming out of Egypt. However, this ancient image melts away in light of Elder Packer’s recent assertion that although Sodom and Gomorrah was localized, they are “[n]ow . . . spread across the world, and they are among us.”[37] Hence, there is no place that we can truly go where Babylon is not. Thus, our departure from Babylon is a spiritual journey as afterwards confirmed by the Lord where He warns the church to go ye out “from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon.”[38] But coming out of Babylon does not place us at our final destination; rather, it is only provisional—designed to set our feet on a path leading from that great and spacious building. Hence, follow this interesting verse from Micah:Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the LORD shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.[39]
Notwithstanding the command to go out from Babylon, the Lord has also said that we will go to Babylon and there be delivered from our enemies. How do we resolve this superficial contradiction? If not attentive, we may fail to observe that our most important delivery is not out of Babylon, but into Christ’s family. Such is the delivery referred to by Micah. But before I address that matter, let me first note what common sense dictates and celestial law orders—that where family exists, it must begin with a marriage.[40]
Although not frequently addressed, each of us is a member of a spiritual family with Christ as our Husband[41] and us as His bride[42]--more commonly known as His church.[43] One of the more beautiful accounts of this marriage was penned by Ezekiel:
Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.[44]
But marriage—including ours to the Lord—was not designed to be an end in itself, for with it comes the commandment to be fruitful and multiply.[45] Thus, just as an earthly bride delivers her child, all who comprise the bride of the Lord are likewise given power, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, to deliver a child upon whom all enemies, both death and hell,[46] have no claim. This child is the same for all who are delivered—it is ZION, the pure in heart. While the church and Zion can be viewed as institutions, our marriage to Christ and becoming Zion are individual pursuits. Thus, it is most helpful to stop thinking of the church—the Lord’s bride—and Zion—the bride’s offspring—as institutions, and begin viewing them as a spiritual development within oneself. Jeremiah articulated this spiritual development as we become one with the Lord, and granted His heart:Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion . .
Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. [47]
Simply expressed, each of us, as the Lord’s bride, conceives when the word of God is received into our heart and is quickened by that Spirit which gives life to all things.[48] As this seed develops and is nurtured[49] by faith, diligence, and patience, a child pure in heart is delivered.[50] Each of us must individually experience this, for I know of no other delivery that looses the bands of wickedness, that breaks every yoke of sin, that proclaims liberty to the captives,[51] and lets the oppressed go free.[52]
If this process sounds familiar to you, it’s because Alma’s discourse of how a seed is planted, germinates, and grows up into a tree is an effective metaphor of how human life is conceived and develops into a child possessing the name,[53] countenance,[54] and attributes of its father[55]—for Alma’s grand conclusion of his experiment is this—that EVERY SEED BRINGETH FORTH UNTO ITS OWN LIKENESS.[56] Based on this adage, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland condensed Alma’s entire discourse into one brief, but extraordinary sentence showing the link between the word of God and Jesus Christ: “Here the seed—the word of God—is moving toward full stature as the Word of God.”[57]
Unfortunately, not all deliveries enjoy this happy ending. Isaiah[58] wrote of a time when the bride delivered a child that died in its formative years. Barely two hundred years passed away after the Lord’s visit to America before the church, or bride, in 4th Nephi forgot her sucking child and had not compassion on the son of her womb.[59] Rather, she “did trust in her own beauty and played the harlot.”[60] Although we see this apostasy as an institutional event, it wasn’t—it was an individual episode—one person at a time. Thus, as she spent her days in selfish pursuits, seeds sown during the intervening years fell on stony places, others were cast by the wayside, and some grew among thorns;[61] and the child—once promised eternal life[62]—died a shameful death.
For this child neglect and other atrocities,[63] the Husband gave His wife “dry breasts and a miscarrying womb”[64] and forsook her for “a small moment”.[65] But as He turned away His face,[66] His voice could yet be heard—“I [will] not forget thee . . . Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”[67] Such love—such forgiveness—has been known only once.
Foretelling the re-union between Christ and His bride in the latter days, Isaiah recorded:
Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken . . . but thou shall be called Delightful. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy God marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.[68]
In keeping with His parting promise, the appearance of the Lord to Joseph Smith was to renew the marriage covenant and fulfill His promise to write His law in our heart[69] that we may know Him[70] . . . which brings us to today!
Just as the temporal family is Satan’s visible target, the spiritual family is his hidden agenda, and knowing that he hath but a short time,[71] he sits determined to foil each family’s essential purpose to bring forth a child pure in heart.[72] In his pursuit, is there any question that he gives substantial effort to destroying the word of God—the seed planted in the heart of the bride that commences life? It is therefore, that I focus a few remarks on the part the word plays in each of our spiritual families.
As noted previously, the command to “be ye clean” is given to each of us, the Lord’s bride. By what manner are we to be cleansed? After describing the Lord’s marriage to His bride, Ezekiel described how the Lord then washed His bride with water that she would be clean.[73] In this same context, the apostle Paul wrote:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.[74]
Obedience to God’s word is the only means by which fallen creatures are transformed through the atonement of Jesus Christ into celestial beings. Thus, Christ prayed that we would be sanctified through the word.[75] Explaining this, Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught:
Sanctification comes only to the obedient; it is the truth of heaven—the very word of God . . . which sanctifies the souls of men. As . . . Jesus sanctified himself by obedience to the words of the Father, so the Twelve [and we] may sanctify themselves through the truth Jesus has given them.[76]
To the prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord declared that they who are not sanctified through the law of Christ cannot inherit the celestial kingdom.[77] The law of Christ—also named the law of the gospel—comprises all that has been given as scripture.[78] Because it embraces the power of an endless life,[79] it is that pearl of great price for which we must be willing to sell all that we have to possess.[80] Owing to its worth, the Lord denounced the church, or bride, for having treated it lightly,[81] which vanity,[82] he continued, “brought the whole church under condemnation.”[83] We have likewise been warned to “beware how [we] hold [these words], for they are to be answered upon [our] souls in the day of judgment.”[84]
It is this law comprising all that God has spoken—these living waters—with which we are to be washed.[85] Importantly, these waters have also been given “for a law, to be my law to govern my church,”[86] declared the Lord. Remembering that the church is the bride is vital with respect to the Lord’s use of the term govern in this verse, for the Lord later affirmed that “that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same.”[87] Thus, being washed by the word requires that we not only know that which is written, but that we also be governed by that which is written.”[88] President Harold B. Lee confirmed:
You may ask me, how does one sanctify himself, and make himself holy so that he is prepared to walk in the presence of the Lord? . . . The Lord says this, ‘And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same’ (D&C 88:34). What law? The laws of the Lord as contained in the gospel of Jesus Christ, the keeping of which laws and ordinances are the ways by which we are purified and made holy.[89]
The link between being governed and washed by the word of God is most beautifully illustrated in Ezekiel 47, wherein, Ezekiel is taken to the house from whence the pure and living waters flow. He is brought through the waters that issue from the house—not once, but four times. With each passing through, the waters grew progressively deeper—to the ankles, the knees, and the loins, thus, symbolizing an increased submission to the water’s flow and a greater cleansing. When at last, the “waters were risen” and became “waters to swim in, [and] a river that could not be passed over,”[90] I sense that Ezekiel had become altogether governed by the water insomuch that he was taken whithersoever the waters flowed. And through that governance by the pure waters which issued from the sanctuary, he was preserved, perfected, and sanctified by the same.
Since becoming pure in heart occurs individually and within, vast opportunity exists for each of us to become pretenders. Hence, the degree to which we treat with solemnity the word, and are washed by knowing and obeying it is entirely of our private choosing. But it is also within God’s power to decide who will and who will not be given His word:
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.[91]
Based on the foregoing, my second invitation extended to you is two-fold. First, God has entrusted to you the power of an endless life. Prove to Him that He has not cast this pearl before swine[92] by treasuring up in your mind every day these words of eternal life. Make your study consistent and sufficient. Second, give diligent heed to the words of eternal life. Live by them and love them that they may be written in your hearts—that the law which governs you may also preserve, perfect, and sanctify you.
Simply because the waters are pure when they issue from the throne of God does not mean they must remain so. In his pursuit to destroy the spiritual family, is there any question that Satan gives attention to muddying the waters; that with intent to mislead, he pollutes the pure wine of the gospel with the philosophies of men.[93] It is on this very point that the apostle Paul penned the words: “THIS know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”[94] Asserting that we live in those times, Elder Packer recently noted that the dangers itemized by Paul are a description “of the days in which we live.”[95] In this same context, Paul warned Timothy in his next letter of the disregard that latter-day saints would show towards the word of God:
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.[96]
Although some attribute these warnings to those of an earlier dispensation, they most assuredly pertain to us, for Paul’s final warning that “we would not endure sound doctrine” hints of another event that occurred to ancient Israel of which Paul said was recorded “for an admonition for those upon whom the end of the world shall come.”[97]
Concerning this other event, when the children of Israel left Egypt, they did so in haste. One month following their departure, the assembly cried out in hunger. To Moses, the Lord responded: “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them.”[98] Although nutritional, it tasted like fresh oil.[99] Thus, on several occasions, the congregation scorned this light bread.[100] During one incident, some cried: Why came we forth out of Egypt?[101] In response, the Lord “brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp.” Eager for flesh, the congregation heaped to themselves quail, such that he that gathered least gathered 65 bushels.[102] 
Just as ancient Israel did not endure the light bread but heaped to themselves flesh, Paul declared that saints of the last day likewise would not endure sound doctrine but instead would heap to themselves teachers—Darwin, Dewey, Huxley, Rogers, Freud, Keynes, Marx, and Hegel to name only a few on the heap. Because of them, Nephi wrote, all have “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.”[103] Even the humble followers of Jesus Christ do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. Great caution, then, must be exercised with respect to the precepts of men—even if taught at a church institution.[104] Nephi therefore provides the litmus test by which all can measure the truthfulness of that which is spoken: “Cursed is he,” Nephi wrote, “that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.”[105].png)
Thus, my third and final invitation extended to you is also two-fold. First, go often to that place from where the pure waters flow—the temples of the Lord—that you may learn to swim in clean waters—unsullied by the philosophies of men—and, thereby, be cleansed with the washing of water by the pure word of God, that the Lord might present you to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that you should be holy and without blemish. Second, after you have left that sacred house, apply the litmus test that Nephi gives to test all that is spoken in the world and reject as fables the precepts of men save those which have been given by the power of the Holy Ghost. By so doing, the pure waters are continuously filtered that they may remain pure.
I bear testimony of Jesus Christ, that he is coming and shall cleanse this earth with the brightness of his coming. I seek for that day. All who are pure—even as He is pure—shall abide the day; whether in life or in death.[106] “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”[107] May we have sense enough to experience all that He offers to us through His atonement and His endless and powerful word. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
FOOTNOTES
[1] See D&C 77:12-13.
[2] Packer, Boyd K., And They Knew It Not, CES Fireside for Young Adults, 5 March 2000, p. 6.
[3] As recorded in the Saturday evening session of BYU-Idaho 5th Stake Conference held on March 14, 2009 in the Hinckley Chapel at BYU-Idaho. Therein, Elder Madsen quoted President James E. Faust as saying: “The chronological millennium has begun. The spiritual millennium will begin with the coming of Christ.”
[4] The Lord has laid his hands upon the nations and has declared that the wicked shall be scourged until all that remain shall know him (see D&C 84:96-98).
[5] See Hunter, Howard W., An Anchor to the Souls of Men, Ensign, October 1993, pp. 70-72 and Monson, Thomas S., Priesthood Power, Ensign, May 2011, p. 66.
[6] See D&C 101:11; compare D&C 109:45.
[7] Jeremiah summarized these days as the day of Jacob’s trouble; a day wherein he describes men with hands on their loins resembling women in labor (see Jeremiah 30:4-7). Similarly, Daniel prophesied of these days as “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (see Daniel 12:1). Confirming that the day of Jacob’s trouble has arrived, the following warning was given to this nation shortly following the martyrdom of the prophet Joseph: “And now cometh the day of their calamity, even the days of sorrow, like a woman that is taken in travail; and their sorrow shall be great unless they speedily repent” (see D&C 136:35).
[9] As recalled and paraphrased from a Q&A session incorporated as part of a regional meeting held for the Relief Society at the BYU-I Center on February 12, 2011.
[10] Packer, Boyd K., Lehi’s Dream and You, CES Devotional Address, Brigham Young University, 6 January 2007.
[11] Ephesians 6:10.
[12] See Hebrews 11:10; compare D&C 45:12.
[13] See 2 Nephi 2:18.
[14] Ezekiel 7:24; emphasis added.
[15] See 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.
[16] See D&C 93:35; compare 1 Corinthians 6:15-20; compare 1 Corinthians 3:9-17.
[17] See D&C 86:3; compare Revelation 13:6.
[18] Packer, Boyd K., Lehi’s Dream and You, CES Devotional Address, Brigham Young University, 6 January 2007.
[19] See D&C 86:3; compare D&C 84:82 with Matthew 6:28-39; and D&C 133:7, 14. It stems from the river unto the ends of the earth (see Psalms 72:8; compare 1 Kings 4:21). The “river” is a reference to the Euphrates, the great river that flowed from the Garden before the lands were divided.
[20] But her costly apparel (see Revelation 18:19; compare Mormon 8:36-39) is also a treacherous disguise, replicating what was worn by the temple priests in ancient Israel (See Exodus 26-30; compare Leviticus 8. She, like the scarlet beast upon whom she sits, is apostate (see Revelation 17:3).
[21] Compare 1 Corinthians 10:18-22.
[22] President Brigham Young said: “It is among those who are the bride, the Lamb's wife, that the foolish are to be found. But he never has instructed us to call on the ungodly, and those who would mob us, to make foolish virgins…Let me tell you, the tares will be in the field, and many will think they are wheat, until harvest comes; but at no time has the Lord said, bring the wicked and ungodly among my people to scourge them; for they are capable of bringing upon themselves all the evil necessary to perfect the good” (see Young, Brigham, Journal of Discourses, 12:231-232).
[23] See D&C 88:94.
[24] See D&C 86:7.
[25] See Benson, Ezra Taft, Conference Report, October 1964, p. 56.
[26] Lee, Harold B., Conference Report, April 1948, p. 312.
[27] See 3 Nephi 1:29-30.
[28] And of all who are slain upon the earth (see Revelation 18:24).
[29] Alma 5:22-23.
[30] See D&C 133:5, 14; compare Revelation 18:4. See the apostle Paul’s discussion on this very point in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20; compare Hosea 2.
[31] See Isaiah 30:22.
[32] See D&C 133:5.
[33] See Numbers 4:14, 5-15.
[34] Such as used in Alma 7:10 when referring to Mary as a chosen vessel of the Lord.
[35] Such duties are fully outlined in Numbers 4 and 7; compare with Isaiah 22:20-25.
[36] See 1 Nephi 17:1; compare “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, November 1995, 102.
[37] Packer, Boyd K., The One Pure Defense, Address to CES Religious Educators, 6 February 2004, Salt Lake Tabernacle, p. 4.
[38] See Hebrews 10:14; compare D&C 133:14.
[39] Micah 4:10.
[40] See D&C 131:1-4.
[41] See Isaiah 54:5; compare Jeremiah 31:32.
[42] See Isaiah 54:5 (footnote 5a), Ezekiel 16:8, Hosea 2:19 (footnote 19a), Ephesians 5, and JST Revelation 12, respectively.
[43] The covenant joining Christ with His bride is termed the Abrahamic Covenant, although this is not commonly understood.
[44] Ezekiel 16:8.
[45] See Genesis 1:27.
[46] See 2 Nephi 9:10.
[47] Jeremiah 3:14, 19; compare D&C 39:9-10.
[49] In other words, by adding to it virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, humility, and diligence (see D&C 4:6; compare 2 Peter 1:5-8 and D&C 107:30-31).
[50] See D&C 97:21.
[51] Compare Isaiah 61:1-3.
[52] The apostle John likewise saw this transformation of the Church of God into the kingdom of our God and his Christ which, according to D&C 105:32, is ZION—the pure in heart (see D&C 97:21). Although what John sees is the institution of Zion coming forth from the Church of God, the bringing forth a child pure in heart (see Alma 5:13-14, 19) must occur individually before Zion can be institutionally organized. Hence, while some wait for Zion to be broadcast, the Lord has declared that “he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet—a trump that some will not hear—and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect” (JS—Matthew 1:37)—to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn (see D&C 77:11).
[53] See D&C 109:26.
[54] The countenance of the Lord is clean hands and a pure heart (see D&C 64:24, Psalms 24:4-6, and especially Alma 5:14, 19).
[55] See Alma 5:13-14, 19; compare Mosiah 5:7.
[56] See Alma 32:31.
[57] Holland, Jeffrey R., Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon, p.168; emphasis added.
[58] See 1 Nephi 21:20; compare 4 Nephi 1:22-46. Zenos likewise wrote of this event (see Jacob 5:41-42).
[59] See 1 Nephi 21:15.
[60] Ezekiel 16:15, 15-59.
[61] See Matthew 13:1-9.
[62] See 4 Nephi 1:3, 17.
[63] See 1 Nephi 11:32-35; compare Amos 8:4-13.
[64] See Hosea 9:14. The death of the Nephite nation is foretold by Hosea in this chapter.
[65] See Isaiah 54:7.
[66] See Jacob 5:41.
[67] 1 Nephi 21:15-16.
[68] JST Isaiah 62:5; "For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy God marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." [69] See 2 Corinthians 3:2-3; compare Hebrews 8:9-12. It is rarely understood that the promise made by the Lord in the sacrament prayers—that they may always have his Spirit of be with them (see D&C 20:77; compare verse 79)—is in fulfillment of that part of the new and everlasting covenant, wherein, the Lord declared that “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (see Jeremiah 31:33).
[70] Jeremiah 31:33-34. According to the prophet Joseph Smith, the calling and election made sure (or Holy Spirit of promise) will be the manner by which every man shall know the Lord (see Smith, Joseph, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.149).
[71] See JST Revelation 12:12.
[72] See JST Revelation 12:17.
[73] See Ezekiel 16:9.
[74] Ephesians 5:25-27.
[75] See John 17:17-19.
[76] McConkie, Bruce R. The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary, 4 vols., 4:, p.114; emphasis added.
[77] D&C 88:21. The woman, church, bride, or “body of Christ” must be washed and sanctified by the word unto becoming pure in heart, or unto being delivered through great travail as the holy child—Zion. According to D&C 43:8-9, we are to meet together to instruct and edify . . . and thus, be sanctified by that which we have received.
[79] See JST John 1:18.
[80] See JST Matthew 13:47; "And again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man, seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and bought it."
[81] D&C 84:54.
[82] It is quite remarkable how these verses harmonize with those penned by Isaiah, wherein, he described the bride pretending to be with child, but when she came to the birth, only wind, or vanity, came forth. Follow along as I read some of the most disparaging verses ever written:
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen (Isaiah 26:17-18).
The bride “treated lightly the things she had received” and rather than bring forth a child pure in heart, what she brought forth was the cares of this world.
[83] See D&C 84:55. It is well to be reminded that the church is the bride that is to nourish the child.
[84] D&C 41:12. These words are given to the salvation of [the Lord’s] own elect” (see D&C 35:20), they who treasure up His word (see JS—Matthew 1:37) hear his word, (see D&C 29:7) and hearken to His word (see D&C 33:6).
[85] See D&C 88:77-78.
[86] See D&C 42:59.
[87] D&C 88:34.
[88] See D&C 84:57.
[89] Teachings Of Presidents Of The Church: Harold B. Lee, p.27.
[90] See Ezekiel 47:1-5.
[91] 2 Nephi 28:30; compare Alma 12:9-11 and D&C 60:3-4.
[92] See 3 Nephi 14:6.
[93] See McConkie, Bruce R., The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p.59.
[94] 2 Timothy 3:1.
[95] Packer, Boyd K., The One Pure Defense, Address to CES Religious Educators, 6 February 2004, Salt Lake Tabernacle, p. 4-5.
[96] 2 Timothy 4:3-4.
[97] 1 Corinthians 10:11.
[98] Exodus 16:4.
[99] Numbers 11:7-8.
[100] Numbers 21:5.
[101] Numbers 11:4-6.
[102] Numbers 11:31-32.
[103] 2 Nephi 28:14.
[104] President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “We encourage you to get your . . . degrees and to further your education; but let us not forget that disaffection from the gospel and the Lord's church was brought about in the past by the attempts to reconcile the pure gospel with the secular philosophies of men . . . Be careful of blending your worldly training with the gospel courses you teach lest you be guilty of diluting the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and end up teaching the philosophy of men mingled with a few scriptures” (Benson, Ezra Taft, “The Gospel Teacher and His Message”, Latter-day Tracts, 8).
[105] 2 Nephi 28:31.
[106] D&C 35:20-21.
[107] Revelation 5:12.
