DENYING
THE POWER THEREOF
Jan
Griffith, December 2007
Last
night
I was reading a chapter in II Timothy which is probably very familiar
to
all. Paul was describing the last days when perilous (difficult)
times shall
come, and then he gave a description of those times which are hard to
deny
about this generation --
--
lovers
of their own selves
--
covetous
--
boasters
--
proud
--
blasphemers
--
disobedient to parents
--
unthankful
--
unholy
--
without natural
(instinctive) affection
--
truce
breakers (breaking promises/covenants)
--
false
accusers
--
incontinent (no self control)
--
fierce
--
despisers of those that are good (having good and evil turned backward)
--
traitors
--
heady
(impulsive)
--
high
minded
--
lovers
of pleasures more than lovers of God
It
was the
next description which seemed to jump out at me:
--
having a form of godliness, but denying the
power thereof
I
have read
this many times, but this time it felt different.
We
are living
in a day when the miraculous is coveted, and even sought for. Revelations, visions and appearances by
heavenly messengers are being reported by someone, somewhere, almost
daily,
even in the secular world. Furthermore,
we are told that a latter day delusion of signs and wonders will cause
even the
elect to marvel, if not be deceived by them.
“For in those days, there
shall also
arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect,
who are
the elect according to the covenant.” (Matthew 24:23)
“Yea, the Lord, even
Jesus, whose
coming is not until after there cometh a falling away, by the working
of Satan
with all power, and signs and lying wonders”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9)
Who
is
denying the power of God these days? Is
anyone? Maybe we haven’t fully
understood this prophecy.
There
is a
similar prophecy in the Book of Mormon:
“And they deny the power
of God, the
Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people, Hearken unto us, and
hear ye
our precept; For behold, there is no God to-day, for the Lord and the
Redeemer
hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men. Behold,
hearken ye
unto my precept: if they shall say there is a miracle wrought, by the
hand of
the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he
hath
done his work.” (2
Nephi 12:6-8)
Here
it is
again – a form of godliness, because men are speaking of God – yet they
are somehow
denying his power. I believe the key
words in this passage are that God “has
given his power unto men.” It
doesn’t say that there will be no
miracles wrought. The implication is
that when there is a miracle wrought,
man will have his understanding of those miracles backwards, believing
wrongly
that God has completed his work by transferring his power to men. Interestingly enough, this is precisely what
“spiritual scholars” are teaching these days.
These teachings are included in the curriculum of those who
advocate
universal (Noahide) law – the belief that God gave men the power to
create his
kingdom upon the earth.
It
is very
possible that we have misunderstood these passages in 2 Nephi 12:6-8 to
imply a
lack of miracles, when in fact, it probably means just the opposite –
that
miracles will happen, and when they do, the glory we ascribe to them
will be in
error. God’s Word is clear that man’s
tendency is to place trust in himself:
“And because of this
their great
wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they
were left in
their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted
and
smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possesion
of
almost all their lands.” (Helaman 2:46)
“…cursed is he that
putteth his
trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in
man, or maketh
flesh his arm.”
(2 Nephi 3:62-63)
“Therefore hear now this,
thou that
art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in
thine
heart, I am, and none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow,
neither
shall I know the loss of children” (Isaiah 47:8)
“How much she hath
glorified
herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give
her; for
she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see
no sorrow”
(Revelation 18:7)
Paul
wrote
that we would have a form of
godliness, meaning there would be a profession of faith and belief in
God, even
Jesus Christ, yet we would “deny the power thereof.”
Besides having everything backward, could it also be that there
was a specific power Paul was
referring to that we would deny? I
believe so, and I believe that the power he was referring to is the
power of
the resurrection, which is the power of redemption and restoration.
The
word
“resurrection” is being used in many ways today, almost all of them
wrongly. It is primarily being used to
define the cosmic transformation of
this world – that of changing this world from evil and injustice, to a
world of
justice and peace (the resurrection of law).
The
word
“resurrection” is also being redefined by Gnostic/neo-Christian
influences to
mean the resurrection of the spirit
in the eternal world, which the Book of Mormon clearly reveals is a
false
belief (
I
have also
heard faulty interpretations of the resurrection among our own people.
For
example, a revelation was given at the Geneseo Priesthood Retreat on
July 23,
2006, stating that the trumpet will soon sound and that “the
church shall arise” (the resurrection of an institution). Along those same lines, in an article
titled, The Great Repentance (JCRB Conference, October 2007), we find
the words
of a prayer saying, “Resurrect your
Church, heal your saints.”
Where
is
the knowledge of the resurrection, so that we do not also become guilty
of “having a form of godliness BUT DENYING
THE POWER THEREOF?”
How
will
“…and ye must needs be
led out of
bondage by power, and with a stretched out arm; and as your fathers were led at the first,
even so shall the redemption of Zion be.” (Section 100:3e)
What
does
the Book of Mormon say about this power?
“For as death has passed
upon all
men, to fulfill the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must
needs be a power of resurrection” (2 Nephi 6:11).
“And the grave must
deliver up its
captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored,
one to
the other; And it is by the power of
the resurrection of the Holy One of
“Wherefore, may God raise
you from
death, by the power of the
resurrection, and also from everlasting death, by the
power of the atonement” (2 Nephi 7:43).
“That ye may obtain a
resurrection,
according to the power of the
resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first
fruits
of Christ, unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in
him,
before he manifesteth himself in the flesh” (Jacob 3:17).
“Know ye not that if ye
will do
these things, that the power of the
redemption and the resurrection which is in Christ, will bring
you to
stand with shame and awful guilt before the bar of God?” (Jacob 4:14)
Like
Paul,
Jacob also spoke of denying this power of God:
“Will ye reject the words
of the
prophets and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken
concerning
Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him? and deny
the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit? and
make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath
been laid for you? Know ye not that if ye will do these things, that the power of the redemption and the
resurrection which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with
shame and
awful guilt before the bar of God?” (Jacob 4:13-14)
The
reason
the world hates the apostle Paul so much, and is seeking to discredit
him, is
because Paul’s writings clearly reveal two very critical facts that the
other
gospel accounts do not expound so extensively upon.
Paul taught the law, and made perfectly clear that our works
cannot save us. He also taught the
power of the resurrection, and how important it is that we understand
it.
“But what things were
gain to me,
those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things
but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of
all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found
in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is
through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by
faith; That I may know him, and
the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I
might
attain unto the resurrection of the just.” (Philippians 3:7-11)
The
Lord is
going to use the power of his own arm to restore, redeem, and resurrect
Men
claim
to believe in God, but they really believe in themselves, and the power
of
their own arms. Erroneous
interpretations of the resurrection are born because men have no power
to bring
forth the resurrection of the Just and the Unjust, thus they have
deluded
themselves into disbelieving God’s words.
The holy prophets were very clear that men will pervert Christ’s
words
in order to exalt themselves. God
defines this as “unbelief.”
We
have entered
a perilous time, when scholastic leadership and high technology is
being used
to “educate” the world – Christians included.
Satan has never had the kinds of opportunity that he has today,
to
change the minds and hearts of men.
With the aid of so many “scholars” and so many supposed sacred
writings
being unearthed, even the elect are at risk for confusion.
We
are
being increasingly bombarded with propaganda which is filling our minds
with
one main theme; namely, that the world will soon reach its apex of
evil, and
that when that moment arrives, a “true church” (comprised of a chosen
group)
will step forward with great authority, knowledge, and power, and save
the
world from apocalypse. But there is
nothing scriptural about a church having the power to save or resurrect
souls. A false church may be
temporarily given the power to deceive many in this regard, but
salvation,
redemption and restoration will come forth only by God’s power of
resurrection,
and the strength of his own arm. It
will be a day like no other.
“…and then cometh the day when the arm of the Lord shall be
revealed in power in convincing the nations, the heathen nations, the
house of
Joseph, of the gospel of their salvation. For it shall come to pass in
that
day, that every man shall hear the fullness of the gospel in his own
tongue,
and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this
power, by the
administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them, for the
revelation of
Jesus Christ.”
(Section 87:3-4)
The
adversary
has a plan to mimic Section 87:3-4, but his plan will not succeed. Men are capable of many things, but they are
not capable of atoning for sins – only one man was given the power to
accomplish that. Section 87:3-4 will be
fulfilled in the day when God’s
power has resurrected his creation, so that “every man” can hear the
fullness
of the gospel preached.
I
believe
that the power of the atonement and resurrection is the power of God
that many
will deny, according to the prophecy of II Timothy 3:5.
It is already being denied.
According
to Paul’s writings, two people (Jannes and Jambres) withstood Moses. These two were reprobate concerning the
faith. They had corrupt minds. Note the description Paul used, and how well
it describes our own day – these were learning, yet never able to come
to the
knowledge of the truth. These were no
doubt scholars, educated men whose titles and great manner of speaking
most
likely enticed the apathetic masses to listen.
It is this sort, according to Paul, that “creep
into houses and lead silly women captive.” Desolate
houses. Silly women. These
words
define the drunkards of Ephraim, the Churches, or Gentile Christianity,
those
today who profess to know and believe in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps Jannes and Jambres (whose story is
conspicuously missing in our bibles) were similitudes for two others
who will
withstand the Greater Powers to come.
Paul
summed
up this chapter saying that the folly of such reprobates will be
exposed to all
men (verse 9). He also said that all
who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution because evil men
and
seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
We
are
there brethren. We are seeing these
evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse with each passing day,
having a
form of godliness, yet denying the power thereof.