The Gentiles Will Reject Their King

Greater Things : Books : VISION OF ALL : Overview : Ch-3 Government & Gospel :

Because many Christians do not understand their responsibility toward establishing God's governmental kingdom, they become gullible targets for Satan's recruiting efforts. This tragedy has grown to such proportions that it appears that we are today, where the Jews were at the time of Christ -- only this time the tables have turned. The Jews, preoccupied with God's political salvation, having focused on the prophecies of such to come, wanted nothing to do with the promised Messiah when He came among them, offering salvation on an individual level. (3 Ne. 20:26.) Lamenting this, the Lord proclaimed, "In that day when I came unto mine own, no man among you received me, and you were driven out." (D&C 133:66; Isa. 50:2 = 2 Ne. 7:2; Isa. 59:16.) The Law of Moses, which in every iota pointed to that great and final sacrifice, was fulfilled when those who professed to honor that law, crucified the final Pascal Lamb. In our day, the Gentiles (speaking collectively, not individually) have focused on the gospel as preached by Jesus Christ during his ministry in the meridian of times, but have given comparatively little thought to the governmental realm. In the latter days, the Abrahamic covenant will be fulfilled, which covenant features the temporal salvation of the Lord's people. The cry of the Lord concerning the tragedy to come in our day is essentially the same as it was for the Jews: "When I called again there was none of you to answer...." (D&C 133:67.)

Q. How is it that the Gentiles will reject their Lord in the latter days, and be "driven out"? A. The Lord warned, "Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me." (2 Ne. 28:32.) Included in that number who will deny the Messiah in the latter days will be "the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant." (JS-M 1:22 = Matt. 24:24.) Joseph Smith "saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom [Satan] made war and overcame." (D&C 76:30.) Joseph was describing an elect group, "Who...know [the Lord's] power, and have been made partakers thereof." (76:31.) The Lord said that such a people of promise, who allow "themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power -- they are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born." (76:31,32.)

If even some of the very elect -- those who have received the Second Comforter -- could be so deceived as to align with Satan and oppose Christ (D&C 76:35,43), how can we be assured that we too do not become "deceivers and hypocrites" doomed to "be cut off," being "overcome of the world" (50:6,8)? The answer is provided in the very same context as the references just cited. The solution should be at least somewhat familiar to the vast membership of God's Church. It is drilled into the missionaries, and they explain it to their investigators when they teach them the gospel. Leaders, instructors, and lay members teach and remind us often of this key. The admonition is simply this: "...Preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth." (50:14.) To the hearer, the admonition is the same: to "[receive] the word of truth...by the Spirit of truth...." (50:14.) "If it be by some other way it is not of God." (50:18,20.)

Not all the deception that is perpetrated is done "innocently." Ezra Taft Benson has stated, "Yes, within the Church today there are tares among the wheat and wolves within the flock. As President Clark stated, `The ravening wolves are amongst us, from our own membership, and they, more than any others, are clothed in sheep's clothing because they wear the habiliments of the priesthood.... We should be careful of them....' (CR., Apr. 1949, p. 163.) The wolves amongst our flock are more numerous and devious today [1969] than when President Clark made this statement."⁽¹⁶⁾

The wise, therefore, are those who "have received the truth, and haven taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived." (45:57.) Sons of Perdition, on the other extreme, are described as those who "deny the Holy Ghost when it once has had place in [them], and [they] know that [they] deny it...." (Alma 39:6; Matt. 12:31.)

From this it would seem that no faithful member of the Church, who has been exposed to the plain truth, could oppose, or be lackadaisical about the cause of freedom without having first put off the Spirit of the Lord to some degree. The admonitions have been sufficiently abundant and frequent, both by modern and ancient prophets -- especially in the Book of Mormon. How does the Lord feel today when he sees a rising generation that unwittingly embraces damning philosophies of Satan because of the negligence of their parents and teachers?

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