How to Not Interfere in the Lord’s Work

Or in other words, how to properly participate in the work of the Lord.

I feel to speak to the topic of participating with the Lord to do His own work.

The thought impresses me that in order to participate with the Lord in His Work, we have to know who he is. What is his work? How can we avoid sin without knowing the will of the Lord.

A Brief History of the Lord’s Work

First address the history of the Lord doing his own work. From the creation, to Elisha and his servant, to the life and ministry of the Savior in the Flesh (no one taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself), to the restoration of the Church, and even recently in the prophetic preparation for a period of Church at Home. As we consider what is still yet to come, there can be no doubt that the Lord will yet still accomplish all he has declared by the mouth of his prophets. The Lord is able to do his own work.

I am able to do mine own work.

2 Nephi 27:20

See also “Thy Kingdom Come”

One of the most well-known and frequently cited passages of scripture is found in Moses 1:39. This verse clearly and concisely describes the work of the Eternal Father: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (emphasis added).

A companion scripture found in the Doctrine and Covenants describes with equal clarity and conciseness our primary work as the sons and daughters of the Eternal Father. Interestingly, this verse does not seem to be as well known and is not quoted with great frequency. “Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength” (D&C 11:20; emphasis added).

Tender Mercies of the Lord

Secondly, address the need for us to understand our part in this work.

And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

D&C 59:21

This also has to do with agency of man, not overstepping our bounds, and putting our energies into the work that is most productive for us to accomplish our salvation. Perhaps the temptation to go beyond the scope of our boundaries and influence is owing to the reality that while salvation is an individual matter, exaltation is a family matter. Consequently, we worry about our family member’s reluctance to respond to the Lord’s invitations for them.

Joseph Smith understood this principle well when he responded to a journalist’s inquiry about how he compelled his people to follow him, “I teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.”

Does such a stance relieve us of the burden of work? No it does not. But burdens lifted this doctrine does do. What burdens? The burden of self-pity, or the burden of needless worrying about the choices and consequences of others.

For some, that eternal joy may seem a faint or even a fading hope. Parents, children, brothers, and sisters may have made choices that seem to disqualify them from eternal life. You may even wonder whether you have yet been qualified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

A prophet of God once offered me counsel that gives me peace. I was worried that the choices of others might make it impossible for our family to be together forever. He said, “You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more wonderful than you can imagine.”

To all of those whose personal experience or whose marriage and children—or absence thereof—cast a shadow over their hopes, I offer my witness: Heavenly Father knows and loves you as His spirit child. While you were with Him and His Beloved Son before this life, They placed in your heart the hope you have of eternal life. With the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ working and with the Holy Spirit guiding, you can feel now and will feel in the world to come the family love your Father and His Beloved Son want so much for you to receive.

President Henry B. Eyering, The Hope of Eternal Family Love

He that Is Left… He that Remaineth

Isaiah 4

This chapter is notably short at only 6 verses in length. It deals with the eventual redemption of Zion and the Lord’s protective presence over Zion at that day. The question in my mind this morning then is: so what? What does this mean to me? How can this affect me now in an non-Zion society and time?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the organization that will build up Zion in the last days. Verses 2 and 3 suggests that there will be those that remain, and of those that remain, they will be beautiful and glorious. They shall be called holy. I read these verses and see that there was a great effort to obtain to such a station. The work that was done to get to this state of purity is why membership in the Church of Christ is important. It is the vehicle of preparation. How well am I letting it prepare me?

These things are actually important to understand. That the Lord is able to do his own work is a fact. He will wash away the filth of the daughters of Zion, he will purge the blood of Jerusalem through judgment. This is Christ’s work, not mine. He will also setup his places of refuge and protection from the storms. His work, not mine.

What is my work then? To ensure that I am prepared for that Day, whether it happens in my lifetime or beyond. If I am to return in the morning of the First Resurrection, it will be the same as if I had lived, and survived the sweeping judgments that came upon the earth. I must be prepared for that time.

They Shall Eat the Fruit of Their Doings

Isaiah 3

First thought as I go into chapter 3 is how well organized was the Lord with his people. Ample provisions of leadership and judgment should have been a safety net for the people to keep them in the ways of righteousness. All these were taken away in their wickedness.

Similarly, this is how the devil works as well. He weaves us into such intricate system of enslavement that to leave it is a very difficult process indeed. The haughtiness of the daughters of Zion is an example of this detailed entanglement in things that are of no eternal consequence.

In verse 5, a people that are in a state of sin are an oppression to one another. Neighbors drawing resources from one another. There is a scarcity mentality — not enough to go around. While the poor have burdens to be lifted, when everyone is poor, so that no one is able to provide for their own, then do they become a burden to each other.

There is a conversation recorded here between a man and his blood brother ( brother of the house of his father) where in the former will solicit the later for protection. The brother will refuse the invitation to become a ruler in that day, acknowledging that he himself is without resources even to provide for this own house, let alone to be a ruler over the people.

Either this is the foolish assumption that one must be of means to occupy a position of public service, or there is a more sober reality that a people in such a state cannot be governed. At any rate, leaders of good character are hard to find when the people refuse to be self-governed by the truth.

Verse 9 illustrates how far gone these people are. “They declare their sin as Sodom, they hid it not.” This is the seriousness of their situation, they are in open acknowledgement of their rebellion. So long have the warnings of the prophets been ringing in their ears, that it has become for them a subject of mockery. They openly declare their own sins. The prophets no longer had anything to tell them for they had accepted this as the way things were for them. Sodom did the same.

Their final indictment is this: “For they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” Evil as a reward? How backwards have we become when we see wickedness as something good or to be desired as a reward?

Amidst all the destruction foretold in these verses, and which are verified in other parts of the Old Testament, there is this verse of hope and promise:

Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.

Verse 10

This is such an important declaration, that even in the midst of a civilization in decline, among a people who’s fallen countenance witnesses of their sins, it will still be well with those that choose to follow God, even if they are alone in doing so.

The final topic of consideration is this stinging indictment of the house of Israel towards their own poor.

…for ye have eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses.
What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor?

Verses 14 & 15

This is a topic of serious contemplation. How can I build and grow in such a way as to not take advantage of the poor? “The spoil of the poor is in your houses.” This means so much to me. Can we go to the stores and buy what was produced through quasi-slave labor to adorn our homes and not be held without blame?

The Last Days… The Day of the Lord of Hosts

Isaiah 2

( My thoughts as I read this are extremely personal, and of personal direction. Teaching the Gospel within my family is the single most important responsibility. But of course there are other responsibilities. )

Verse 5: A familiar primary song comes to mind when I read: “O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” ( I suppose I didn’t realize that we were learning truths taught by Isaiah in primary.) In other words, let our actions be according to the truths of the Gospel of Christ.

Verse 11: “The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” This verse is a reminder of the arrogance of man. A vile of pride that even I am prone to drink from on occasion. Only the Lord will be able to rightfully claim what is His at the end of days.

Almost the same wording is repeated in Verse 17. The loftiness of men shall be brought down, the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted (raised up) in that day.

It is hard, even in the confidence of truth, for man not to become proud, comfortable, and complacent.

Because the first five verses of this chapter are fairly familiar to me, I’ve skipped over them prior to now without much consideration. Maybe because this is prophecy that has already been fulfilled: A house of the Lord established in the tops of the mountains. And then Isaiah makes this statement, “All nations shall flow unto it.” The headquarters for the Church of Christ in the last days is established in the remote region of the United States in the tops of the Rocky Mountains. At the center of that is the Salt Lake Temple, a dedicated house of the Lord. In so many ways, the nations of the earth have flowed to the headquarters of the Church. Every six months, the world membership of the Church flows to Salt Lake to view General Conference. This happens (in most years) via car, airplane, but also via broadcasts via airwaves, satellite, and fiber optic cables. These digital signals flow out from the house of the Lord.

Verses 3 & 4 pertain to yet future events. Zion shall be established as the governing head of the world. Jerusalem will be reinstated as the spiritual head of the world. They stand at opposite ends of the world. These are things that are not yet.

The Lord will exercise judgment and rebuke upon the nations: and consequently, their weapons of war shall be repurposed for gardening tools. The acts and study of war will literally come to an end. These too are future events. A time of peace when all shall learn to walk in the light of the Lord.

I’ve taken a little more time this morning to reflect upon Isaiah’s conclusion here at the end of the chapter. “Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?” A favorite verse from Moses is referenced:

Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

Moses 1:10

In other words, this is God explaining the difference between a proud man and God. Though he may be proud and arrogant, deep down his actions (hiding his idolatrous treasures in the caves and rocks) indicate that his is ultimately governed by fear, a fear of loosing what he has acquired.

This changes everything when we contemplate priorities from day to day and our daily activities.

The pride and arrogance of man is a common theme in the Old Testament and particularly with Isaiah. Words like “haughty” and “haughtiness” are only found in the Old Testament. If men were prideful and arrogant in the days of the Old Testament, how much more so have they become this way now?

Help Is Coming

(25 Aug 2020) I am in a spirit of fasting and prayer this morning for an ecclesiastical matter, lending my assistance to our branch president in making a decision. However, the Lord has seen it fit to bless me with some additional help in personal family affairs at the same time, which have pretty much derailed my morning activities from what I assumed them to be. (This is a semi-frequent occurrence for me – the derailment because of spiritual impressions.)

What is not a frequent occurrence is the nature of present communications. Much as was the series of impressions that lead us back to Arizona from Utah.

The first impression came two or three weeks ago. I have it recorded as being somewhere around the 13 or 14 of August this year (2020). This is how I’ve recorded it:

0.0 Grandpa Brigham says he’s sending help.

I don’t know what that means, but I trust him if he says help is coming.

I cannot even recall now if this impression came at the end of a prayer or morning study or fasting, but it surprised me. I think at the moment I was struggling with my weaknesses as a parent and the troubled dynamics of our marriage and wayward children.

This morning, in prayer and fasting (as mentioned above), my mind was brought back to this topic.

Now I have mulled over in my mind several times since then, who or what the nature of this help would be that Grandfather Brigham (Young) would be sending to me or my wife or children. I’ve thought that it might be Emily Dow Partridge (Rachel’s 3rd Great Grandmother), but my mind shifted to another of Brigham’s wives: Eliza R. Snow. But I don’t have an answer to this question, rather just a musing.

This morning however, as I contemplated this question, I felt as if a great Matriarch from the Eternal Realms was enlisting upon an Errand of particular importance to me. (That a woman occupied such a position in the Unseen World is a topic for exploration that I had never even begun to consider.) That is the best that I can put into words what I had felt.

I then proceed to search online and located an autobiography of Emily Dow Partridge Young which I proceed to read for the next hour or so.

More than being an autobiography of her life, the account gave a great deal of understanding into her father’s life, Edward Partridge, and the great ordeals that he was called to pass through for the cause of Christ. My personal history pales in comparison to his personal sacrifice, but we do share one thing in common: having left a comfortable position in this life because of our faith. I find myself slowly returning to that, while he never had the privilege of returning to that place of comfort in this life. Emily did, eventually.

I am only making note here of all these spiritual impressions so that when I figure out what is really going on, I can have a reference point from whence it came.

See also another Autobiography of Emily D. P. Young

Zion Shall Be Redeemed

Isaiah 1

This introductory chapter illustrates quite vividly the issues at hand: Israel has departed from righteousness, and has sold herself for sin. There is also here both and invitation to return and also the hopeful prophecy that Zion will be redeemed.

Righteousness herein is defined as:

  • Learning to do well
  • Seeking judgment
  • Relieving the oppressed
  • Judging the fatherless
  • Pleading for the widow

(See vs. 17)

There is a restoration and redemption mentioned herein. After this period of cleansing, which the Lord himself will perform, then will Israel be called “the city of righteousness, the faithful city.” (vs. 26)

Vs. 27: “Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.”

Redemption comes differently for the inhabitants of Zion (through judgment/justice), as opposed to its converts who are redeemed with righteousness. That there are converts is also an important point, because the establishment of Zion has little to do with deserved lineage of inheritance and everything to do with personal righteousness. There will be converts in Zion.

On a second reading of the chapter, the first thing that stands out to me is the blatant failure of the children to respond to the nurturing and rearing of a loving father and instead they are in rebellion. (See vs. 2-3) This point seems so important to understand, because conversion and discipleship doesn’t come instantly, in a moment. It is a long process of step by step growth. It is continual nourishment that bring forth fruit. Oh how frustrating it must be after a period of nourishment to see rebellion where there should have been flowering and delicious fruits.

The diagnosis against the House of Israel is one of sickness uncured. Isaiah explains it such a way that it suggests there were remedies that could have been taken, actions that would have healed them, but all such cures have been left unattended to. No bandages applied, no closing of wounds, no mollifying with ointment. (see vs. 5-7)

Earlier in the chapter (verses 16-20), there is a invitation to repentance. Then later in the chapter (verses 24-31), there is a stronger statement of fact, that the Lord will purge and redeem Israel, cleansing her of all impurity. The Lord will not compel any man to repentance; it must be a voluntary act. Then when time for change has passed, then comes the destruction and the consumption. It comes quickly.

The Words of Isaiah

3 Nephi 20

In Christ’s ministry to the Nephites as recorded in 3 Nephi, there are three times (3 Nephi 16:17–20; 20:11-12; 23:1–3) where the Savior commends the words of Isaiah to our study, stating that these words shall all be fulfilled. Of all the prophets, Isaiah is the prophet that Christ points to as being important to understand. Now this is particularly noteworthy, because the “Isaiah Chapters” of the Book of Mormon are seen by some as the hardest to be understood. It’s also noteworthy because Nephi and Mormon both saw the words of Isaiah as being of enough value to include entire chapters directly within the texts of the Book of Mormon.

It wasn’t Moses, Ezekiel, Abraham, Adam, Enoch, or any of the other ancient prophets. Isaiah is the one that Christ points to as of being of the most worth.

So Great Faith

3 Nephi 19

Just as this chapter goes into detail in explaining that there are things that cannot be comprehended by the mortal mind, or rather that are forbidden from being recorded, I am at a loss of words to describe the experience that it is for me this morning reading these verses. The feelings that I feel are real, the strength of the Spirit is indisputable. The clarity of my present reality and state of mind is tangible to me, and is a product of spiritual power. But how do I share this with another, the things that I feel?

This chapter has in it a prayer recorded from the Savior that feels a lot like His intercessory prayer recorded in John 17.

I Am the Light

3 Nephi 18

(Note: There is a natural man repulsion to the doctrines found in this chapter. I feel that this is the adversary’s affront to some of the most important principles of the Gospel of Christ: Sacrament, Family Prayer, and Ministering. The reality is this chapter is a point of culmination in the Savior’s ministry at the end of the first day.)

Some Bread and Wine

At the start of this chapter is the institution of the Sacrament among the Nephite people, or rather, those that followed the Christ in the Americas. The Spirit of the Lord is constraining me to consider this deeply: the breaking of bread in remembrance of the body of Christ. The observed effect upon those that partook is that they were filled, filled so that their souls did no longer hunger. This should be the observable outcome of participation in this holy ordinance.

It has impressed me that perfection is not the requirement for the companionship of the Holy Ghost as taught by the Savior. The requirement is that we always remember the Christ.

And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.

Verses 7 & 11

Then after teaching the ordinance of the Sacrament, Christ then emphasizes its importance by stating that by doing these things, ye shall be built upon His rock, drawing upon the wise man/foolish man imagery of the strong vs. the sandy foundation.

Further Instruction

After the administration of the Sacrament, the Savior goes back and forth between the disciples (meaning the twelve that he had called apart) and the multitude. To the disciples he gives specific instruction pertaining to leadership. To the multitude he admonishes them to prayer.

To Sift You as Wheat

How wheat is sifted anciently. (There are some good illustrative videos posted here.)

Christ says to the multitude, Satan desires to sift you as wheat. The sifting of wheat is a violent process of being beaten down and then tossed into the air.

Later he returns to the disciples and gives further instruction on the administration of the Sacrament.

Progression is the purpose of the Sacrament, not perfection. That Christ commands that no one partake of the Sacrament unworthily lends to this point. Because this is about progression, the Sacrament allows for regular and routine check points, having first made the commitment to the correct doctrine and principles. This is also the reason why He instructs them to not cast out anyone who would attend their meetings, even if they were not ready to partake of the Sacrament. (See verses 30, 32)

In all this explanation of ministering principles, there are brief little insights of truth like this:

“For behold I know my sheep, and they are numbered.”

Vs. 31

I don’t know why this resonates with me so deeply. Maybe the reality that each of Christ’s disciples is known to Hm. Is it that He would number me individually? Is it that I count enough to be included?

For Your Sake

As the Savior bids farewell to his disciples (the twelve) at the end of this first day, he states:

And now I go unto the Father, because it is expedient that I should go unto the Father for your sakes.

Vs. 35 (emphasis added)

There are abundant scriptural passages that here explain how it is that the Savior goes to the Father to claim his rights of mercy as our advocate before the Father. So in very few words, it must needs be that Christ returns to the Father so that he can stand as the legal representative for those that would claim mercy from his name. This is an extremely important behind-the-scenes insight.

At the end of the his public comments to the multitude, he exhorts them to “hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up.” I feel that he is saying that He is the example that we should follow, but He says it differently. His is the light that we hold up for others to see. He chooses to describe it as light.

So there is a connection here between the light, which is Christ, and the three things explained in this chapter: Sacrament, Prayer, and Ministering. These are the things that Christ did. These are the things that we are to do to hold up His light.

With these things in mind, hear what John says:

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

1 John 1:5-7

In other words, if we say that we are follow Christ, but are not utilizing the Atonement (through the sacrament, through prayer, in ministering to others), then are we not truly in the light, but we are deceiving ourselves. This is why at the end John concludes, if we are doing these things (praying and partaking of the sacrament and encouraging others to do the same), then of course we are being cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ. The Atonement is working for us. Its doing what it was designed to do: cleanse us all from sin.

Power to Give the Holy Ghost

At the end of the chapter, it is noted that the Lord gave to his American disciples the power to confer the Holy Ghost. The exact words are not recorded, but Moroni notes that he will do so later. The event is referenced several times later in 3 Nephi, but the exact words that Christ spoke were not recorded until we get to Moroni 2.

And he called them by name, saying: Ye shall call on the Father in my name, in mighty prayer; and after ye have done this ye shall have power that to him upon whom ye shall lay your hands, ye shall give the Holy Ghost; and in my name shall ye give it, for thus do mine apostles.

Moroni 2:2

Two things are noteworthy for me in this verse: 1) This ordinance should be proceeded by mighty prayer. From now on, whether officiating or standing in the circle or even witnessing this ordinance, I am instructed to offer mighty prayer in preparation that we may have power to give the Holy Ghost. 2) This ordinance is to be perform in the name of Jesus Christ, as did the apostles to whom this responsibility was first bestowed. This suggests the sacred nature of the ordinance because of the name under which the ordinance is performed and because of the office to which this ordinance was first trusted. This was first an apostolic responsibility.

Through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me

Philippians 4:13

I was contemplating a similar phrase that was in my head, “through Christ who healeth me.” That is not scripture, but it was a more accurate description of my current state. But the actual scripture is richer in meaning. Footnotes take me to 1 Timothy and Alma 26:

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;

1 Timothy 1:12

I do not boast in my own strength… I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things… they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this because of the power of his word which is in us.

Alma 26:11–13

And then there is this reminder from the Savior himself:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

John 15:4–5

Then these verses back in Philippians 4 remind me of how to abide in the Christ.

…whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.