December 24, 1998
Jeanette,
I've had a remarkable morning, beginning with an enormously troubling dream, which I
will not attempt to share (one of those realistic cold sweat dreams that you are
enormously relieved to realize was just a dream -- first class felony: definite federal
penitentiary or loony bin material if it had been real).
Because I was so troubled from the dream, I felt a need for spiritual nourishment and
rooting, so I pulled out the scriptures and began reading in Helaman 14, from which I had memorized a verse
last night. This chapter stuck out to me yesterday as it speaks of greater things. In
fact, I took three of its verses and added them as a preface to my Welcome message. The
poetic structure of that chapter (which is what I was doing some formatting on when I
noticed this) matches up verse
28 in two different chiasms, one with the idea of many seeing greater things than
this, which cannot be written.
Anyway, the passage in 28 which mentions greater things uses it in a context of the
destructions and signs which were to come upon the people of Nephi as a sign of the coming
of Christ, that they might believe, that there might be no cause for unbelief, that men
might have full knowledge whereby they might choose to repent or to not repent, to choose
life or to choose death. This of course parallels the day in which we now live in which we
are anticipating analogous signs and wonders to be shown forth (and which indeed are being
shown forth) as a sign that the day of judgement is upon us -- on a parallel with that
which came to the Nephites.
As I read the chapter through in its entirety this morning and then looked again at the
chiasm and substructure, a point jelled in my heart which has never occurred to me before,
at least not anywhere to this extent.
This is still new, and needs time to solidify. My sharing this with you represents the
first motions of discovery. I do so because of your questions about what can be done.
The point is simply this. The gospel, pertaining to individual salvation, is preached
one-on-one to the individual, who works out his own salvation with fear and trembling
before the Lord. The principles of true government, the law of the Lord, as embodied in
the Constitution, on the other hand, which pertains to salvation of entire nations, is to
be preached to entire nations in the persons of those who govern the nations, that they
might bring the entire nation to repentance, turning away from secret combinations and
corruption. As the individual must repent and turn away from sin to avoid the consequences
of sin, which is death, so must the nations repent and turn away from sin, to avoid the
consequences of sin, which is destruction. As the individual chooses between life and
death, and the truth is placed before them, and they are free, and the Lord teaches them
plainly so that they may choose life or death; so also does an entire nation choose
between life and death, the truth being placed before them, they being free to go on to
destruction or to turn to the Lord and receive a remission of their sins, that destruction
might be turned away and deliverance be wrought instead.
That is the concept which hit me. The punch line is that I believe the message that is
in this is that the ministry the Lord is calling his ones mighty and strong to perform is
to stand before kings and rulers and call them to repentance, setting forth clearly and
understandably the abomination of desolation, that they might choose life or death for
their respective nations which they represent.
This does not mean that the individual is inseparably linked to the fate of the nation
to which he or she belongs, for the individual remains accountable for his or her own sins
and repentance. It refers to the general fate of the nation, with individual exceptions
being made through individual repentance. The individual might be spared while the nation
is destroyed. Or the individual might be destroyed while the nation in general is spared.
The people have given to their leaders the power and stewardship over the fate of their
nations, be they tyrannous or free. Does it not therefore stand to reason that the leaders
would likewise therefore hold foremost in their hands the power for the entire nation to
repent or to refuse to do so, to be saved or to be condemned to their destruction -- of
their own choosing?
How does this feel to you, Jeanette. You have already exhausted your message of
repentance on your local community, your family and others with whom you have any sway.
Now it is time to pack up and stand before kings and rulers, before princes and
presidents, before parliaments and halls of congress. Take the truths and their evidences,
and plead the cause of repentance to the nations of the earth. Entire nations could be
born again. Entire nations could refuse to turn. Those that repent will receive a
remission of their sins and be spared. Those who refuse to repent will be consigned to the
destruction they have plotted. With the truth being presented them in all clarity, they
will have no reason to not believe, and will be fully knowledgeable in their decision for
the life or death of their nation, for its salvation or for its destruction.
What say ye? It sure rings true to me. It resonates deep in the chords of my heart.
Does not the Savior speak of his disciples standing before kings and rulers? Is that
not an injunction mentioned actually quite often in scripture? It is. It's time. It has
always been time. This principle is not one that comes and goes or grows or diminishes. It
is ever present. Just as it is never more or less appropriate to cry repentance to an
individual. It is an ever present injunction incumbent upon all of God's children. So also
is the message of repentance to nations an ever-present injunction, a never ending
responsibility. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Either you repent, and
become numbered in the government which will be set up under Christ, or you don't repent,
and you will be cut off from the land, swept away, to make way for those who will repent
and choose righteousness.
The Spirit seems to accord that this is a true and timely principle and message to the
servants of God. Go; stand before the nations, call upon the leaders of the nations to
rein in their wickedness and corruption and to call upon the Lord for mercy, that they
might be spared from the destructions which are sure to come otherwise. Turn away from
secret combinations. Purge the government of its conspiracies and intrigues. These men who
are leading the nations who are also involved in abominable leagues must chose to repent
or lead their nations to destruction.
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now in closing, I should mention something about this discovery which I personally
consider to be a marvelous sign. Since writing the welcome message two days ago, in which
I brought up the analogy of skiing, comparing the difficulty and ease of the various runs
on a slope to the difficulty or ease of various pages on the web site, I began going
through the entire web site, page by page, adding a little icon in the upper right-hand
corner to signify what level of difficulty that particular document was rated: green
circle for easier, blue square for more difficult, and black diamond for most difficult. I
did the editorials the day before yesterday. Most of them I rated as blue square, with
just two being black diamond and two green. Yesterday I started into the chiasms and
parallels. It was then that I came upon Helaman 14 and was inspired to take the wording in
verses 28-30 as the welcome preface for the entire web site. What I am saying is that it
is not like I engineered the coincidence that I am about to mention.
What is today? It is Christmas eve. What is Helaman 14? A prophecy of the sign that
would accompany the first Christmas eve for the Nephites, when there would be a day and a
night and a day in which there would be no night, and a new star would appear which had
never been seen before (which probably accounted for the absence of darkness).
In other words, the timing of my coming upon this chapter, of being impressed by it,
and of deriving the above understanding is confirmed by a miraculous coincident. I
received this revelation early this Christmas eve morning. This concept has continued to
jell as I have written it to you. Now I want to tell the world (at least all who will
listen). For now, I will begin by sending a copy of this correspondence to you to many of
my e-mail acquaintances. I will also send a copy to my Greater Things mailing list. Also,
I have created a discussion board
for comments and insights relating to the concept of calling on the governments of nations
to repent, laying before them clearly and unequivocally the choice they face of
repentance and remission or of destruction. As individuals are answerable to God, so are
governments. I introduce the discussion board with the summarizing statement, "We
call upon the servants of God to stand before kings and rulers, princes and presidents,
parliaments and congresses, to call them to repentance, that destruction might be turned
away if they so choose or be sealed upon them if they refuse."
Have a very merry Christmas Eve. Thanks for being a catalyst.
Sincerely your friend,
