HARD SAYINGS
By: Jan Griffith
“Moreover,
thou son of man, take thee
one stick and write upon it, for Judah,
and for the children of Israel his companions; then take another stick,
and write
upon it, for Joseph, the
stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; And join
them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in
thine hand”
(Ezek 37:16-17).
The
prophet Ezekiel spoke of two sets of writings which would become
“joined
together” for a purpose. One would
primarily be for Judah, and the other primarily for Joseph. In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Lehi also
speaks of these two writings:
“For Joseph
truly testified, saying: A seer shall the Lord my God raise up, who
shall be a
choice seer unto the fruit of my loins...... And Moses will I raise up,
to
deliver thy people out of the
A
careful look at the prophecies of Ezekiel and Lehi reveal that they
speak with
the same voice, yet Lehi goes on to provide the “why.”
In sum, both writings of Judah and Joseph
will be necessary to confound false doctrines, lay down contentions,
establish
peace, and bring us to a true knowledge of the Lord and his covenants. Most would agree that the writings of
Those
who know me, know that I have spent a number of years researching the
writings
of various religious groups, both inside and out of the Christian faith. But only recently did it occur to me that
there is one unique thing definitively separating all other religious
writings
from the sacred writings of Judah and Joseph.
That one thing is hard
sayings.
What
are hard sayings? They are words which
cut like a knife. They are mere
sentences which can slice to the core of our soul.
They are truth, and truth is hard to hear.
“Do
not say that I have spoken hard
things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the
truth:
for I have spoken the words of your Maker.
I know that the words of truth are hard against all
uncleanness;
but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth, and are not
shaken.”(
2 Ne 6:77-78)
We
are living in interesting times, to say the least.
For many, truth no longer consists of absolutes.
We are told that there is neither right nor
wrong, only our perceptions. There is
no black and white, only gray. Moral
relativism is the spiritual curriculum of the day.
What is right for you may not be right for me.
Your sky might be blue and mine might be
red, and we are both right.
Postmodernism claims that the
most important thing is ourselves (“self”).
Yet we also receive conflicting socialist doctrine about
“community” and
“unity in diversity.” It is an upside
down world today. Half-truths and
oppositions to truth are taught in virtually every classroom, to
varying
breadths. Both Jew and Gentile are
guilty of calling wrong right, and right wrong. The
father of all lies is busy erecting his kingdom and it is
nearly finished. Yet for a world
cloaked in deceit, the most discerning of Christians do recognize the
times in
which we are living, and expect the Lord to make his next big move soon.
It
is going to require a movement from the Lord to turn things around, and
to
upset Satan’s kingdom. And apparently,
among other things, it is going to require two witnesses (writings from
Judah
and Joseph) to prove the truth to us.
Are we ready for that? If we are
ready, then we know that we are in for some hard sayings. As is infamously quoted, “the truth
hurts.”
The
Lord spoke hard sayings to Cain when he expressed his displeasure over
Cain’s
sacrifice. And what did Cain do? He rebelled.
The
Lord spoke hard sayings to
The
Lord spoke hard sayings, when he walked the earth, to the Pharisees and
scribes. And what did the Pharisees and
scribes do? They rebelled.
The
Lord also spoke hard sayings to the people of Joseph through his
prophets in
the Book of Mormon. And what did the
people of Joseph do? They
rebelled. Scriptures tell us that the
wicked will perish simply because they cast out the prophets (i.e., 2 Ne 11:62-63). Perhaps
it is important we understand this. Why do
people cast out prophets? What makes a
prophet’s presence so difficult
to tolerate? Hard sayings!
We do not want to hear their message,
because the truth hurts.
[John
4:46] For Jesus himself testified,
that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.
Do
today’s Christian preachers stand comfortably behind their pulpits and
say the
things we long to hear? Or with fear
and trembling are they warning of our wickedness? Are
they preaching not to worry because our salvation is in the
bag? Or with fear and trembling are
they highlighting our weaknesses and warning of destruction?
Who
wants to hear that they are wicked? Who
wants their weaknesses highlighted? Who
wants to hear about destruction? What
would this do for church membership?
Because offenses are burdensome to the flesh, and because the
truth does
hurt, the Christian world has largely disfigured the Lord’s Word into
near
unrecognizable oblivion. And because of
this gross misinterpreting of scripture, coupled with trust in those
who
misinterpret it, I submit that the day is fast approaching that we,
like those
who have gone before us, will be subjected to more hard sayings. We are ripe for a prophetic visit. And like virtually all past experiences with
prophets, we will have a hard choice to make in that day.
We will either listen to that prophet, hope
to understand his words, believe his hard sayings against us,
understand that
we are ripe in iniquity, change our hearts, and repent; or like so many
who
have gone before us, we will be
offended, and will perish.
If
we think it will be easy to hear hard sayings, then we do not
understand what
hard sayings are. It has never, ever
been easy for even the most religiously devout of the Lord’s people to
hear
hard sayings. How many of us, for
example, have looked at the children of
“Woe
unto you, Scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the
sepulchers of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our
fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the
prophets; Wherefore, ye are witnesses unto yourselves of your own
wickedness,
and ye are the children of them who killed the prophets; And will fill
up the
measure then of your fathers; for ye, yourselves, kill the prophets
like unto
your fathers. Ye serpents, and generation of vipers! How can ye escape
the
damnation of hell?” (Mat 23:26-30)
Now
just imagine how we would feel if Jesus knocked on our door today and
called us
a viper like the Pharisees.
“But... But....” we would say,
“But we are Christians... why are you calling us vipers?”
In
Galatians 5:17, we are told that “the flesh lusts against the Spirit,
and the
Spirit against the flesh” and that “the two are contrary the one to
another.” In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we
are
informed that “the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit
of
God.” Mosiah 1:119 speaks the same
message that “the natural man is an enemy to God.”
Now think about that for a minute. If
the natural man (the flesh) is an enemy to God, then we can
reasonably assume that what the flesh loves, God hates, and visa versa. Let us now examine some of the ways in which
the world is interpreting its God, in order that we might prove our
desperate
need for those writings... those “hard sayings” from both Judah and
Joseph.
1. “If anyone attacks you,
attack him as he attacked you... fighting is obligatory for you....”
(The
Koran, the cow, 2:188-216).
“Can
ye be angry, and not sin? let not
the sun go down upon your wrath;
Neither give place to the devil.” (JUDAH; Eph 4:26-27)
“For
verily, verily I say unto you, He
that hath the spirit of contention, is not of me, but is of the devil,
who is
the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to
contend with
anger one with another” (JOSEPH; 3 Ne 5:30).
2. “Try as you may, you cannot
treat all your wives impartially...” (The Koran, women, 4:126).
“Of
the nations concerning which the
Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them,
neither
shall they come in unto you; for surely they will turn away your heart
after
their gods; Solomon clave unto these in love.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred
concubines; and his wives turned away his heart” (JUDAH; 1 Ki 11:2-3).
“Behold,
David and Solomon truly had
many wives, and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith
the
Lord” (JOSEPH; Jac 2:33).
3.
“The real man cannot depart from holiness... evil is unreal.” (Science and Health, 475:28-29; Christian
Science)
“If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”
(JUDAH;
1 John 1:8)”.
“For the
natural man is an enemy to God, and has been, from the fall of Adam,
and will be,
for ever and ever” (JOSEPH; Mos 1:119).
4.
“Jesus Christ was not divine. He
is now an advanced spirit in the sixth sphere.
He never claimed to be God manifest in the flesh and does not at
present.” (Spiritualist, 1940; Spiritualism)
“In the
beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was
the word,
and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son
was of
God” (JUDAH; John 1:1).
“Have they
not said that God himself should come down among the children of men,
and take
upon him the form of man, and go forth in mighty power upon the face of
the
earth?” (JOSEPH; Mos 8:13)
5.
“Jesus Christ is not one God with the Father.” (Make Sure of All
Things,
p. 485; Jehovah’s Witnesses)
“The pillar
and ground of the truth is, (and without controversy, great is the
mystery of
godliness,) God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,
seen of
angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received
up into
glory” (JUDAH; 1 Tim 3:16).
“And having
subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the
Son;
the Father because he was conceived by the power of God: and the Son,
because
of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son: And they are one God,
yea, the
very eternal Father of heaven and of earth” (JOSEPH; Mos 8:30-31).
6.
“When a human being dies, he is DEAD, which means that his body,
mind,
and soul are all dead. He simply stops
being.” (Do You Have an Immortal Soul?”
p. 41; Armstrongism)
“And many of
them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to
everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (JUDAH; Dan 12:2).
“Behold, it has
been made known unto me, by
an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed
from this
mortal body; yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil,
are
taken home to that God who gave them life.
And then shall it come to pass that the spirits of those who are
righteous, are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise; a
state of rest; a state of peace, where they shall rest from all their
troubles,
and from all care, and sorrow, etc. And then shall it come to pass,
that the
spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part
nor
portion of the Spirit of the Lord: for behold they choose evil works,
rather
than good: therefore the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and
take
possession of their house; And these shall be cast out into outer
darkness;
there shall be weeping, and wailing and gnashing of teeth; and this
because of
their own iniquity; being led captive by the will of the devil”
(JOSEPH; Alma
19:43-46).
7.
“As man is, God once was; As God is, man may become.” (
“For I am the
Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”
(JUDAH; Mal
3:6).
“For do we
not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and for ever; and in
him there
is no variableness neither shadow of changing.
And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth
vary, and
in him there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto
yourselves a
god who is not a god of miracles” (JOSEPH; Mormon 4:68-69).
8.
“Be still and know that you are God, and when you know that you
are God
you will begin to live Godhood.”
(Meditations of Maharishi, p. 121; Eastern Mysticism)
“And this is
life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ,
whom thou hast sent” (JUDAH; John 17:3).
“And under
this head ye are made free; and there is no other head whereby ye can
be made
free. There is no other name given, whereby salvation cometh,
therefore, I
would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ” (JOSEPH; Mos
3:10-11).
9.
“God is. Man is.
We are now in the presence of that eternal
Is-ness — Oriris and Isis are now our Father-Mother as fully as they
were of
old
“Thou shalt
have no other gods before me” (JUDAH; Exo 20:3).
“No man can
serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other:
or else
he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God
and
Mammon” (JOSEPH; 3 Ne 5:115).
10.
“The Holy Spirit is a female Spirit... there must be a True
Mother with
the True Father in order to give rebirth to fallen children as children
of
goodness. She is the Holy Spirit.” (Moon, Divine Principle, p. 215; Unification
Church)
“Now the
Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils”
(JUDAH; 1 Tim
4:1).
“And because
he said unto them, that Christ was the God, the Father of all things,
and said
that he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the
image after
which man was created in the beginning; Or in other words, he said that
man was
created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the
children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon
the face
of the earth; And now because he said this, they did put him to death”
(JOSEPH;
Mos 5:44-46).
11.
“God does not declare a person ‘just’ because [of] the person’s
character and good deeds; this has nothing to do with it.”
(Ankerberg & Weldon, “Protestants and
Catholics,” p. 23; Protestantism)
“Therefore
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead and cannot
save
you?” (JUDAH; James 2:18)
“For we labor
diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren,
to
believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; For we know that it is
by grace
that we are saved, after all we can do” (JOSEPH; 2 Ne 11:43-44).
12.
“For Protestants, justification is an act that takes place in a
single moment
— the moment when the sinner through faith trusts Christ completely.” (Ibid, p. 28; Protestantism)
“And ye shall
be hated of all the world for my name's sake; but he that endureth to
the end
shall be saved” (
“And now, my
beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow
path, I
would ask, if all is done? Behold, I
say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far, save it were by the
word of
Christ, with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of
him who
is mighty to save; Wherefore, ye must
press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect
brightness of
hope, and a love of God and of all men.
Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of
Christ,
and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have
eternal
life” (JOSEPH; 2 Ne 13:27-30).
13.
“The souls of those who have died in the state of grace suffer
for a
time a purging that prepares them to enter heaven and appear in the
presence of
the beatific vision.” (The Catholic
Encyclopedia, 1986, p. 502, Catholicism)
<side note: “Purgatory” was officially proclaimed as Catholic
Church
doctrine in 1438>
“For since
the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the
ear,
neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared
for him
that waiteth for him” (JUDAH; Isa 64:4).
“Having a
hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always
in your
hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day, and enter into his
rest”
(JOSEPH; Alma 10:29).
14.
In the calendar of the liturgical year feasts are the sequence
of
festivals to commemorate a teaching or event of religious importance,
or
saints’ days.” (Ibid, p. 218,
Catholicism)
“I hate, I
despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn
assemblies”
(JUDAH; Amos 5:21).
“And the
harp, and the viol, the tabret and pipe, and wine are in their feasts;
but they
regard not the works of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his
hands” (JOSEPH;
2 Ne 8:82).
15.
“Nowhere in all the Bible can this teaching [baptism] be
demonstrated...
in essence, to say that baptism is necessary for salvation is to
undercut the
basic biblical teaching of salvation by faith alone” (Ankerberg &
Weldon,
“Protestants and Catholics,” p. 75-76; Protestantism)
“He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not
shall be
damned” (JUDAH; Mark 16:16).
“And
whosoever will hearken unto my words, and repenteth, and is baptized,
the same
shall be saved” (JOSEPH; 3 Ne 10:31).
16.
"Christ will return at any moment in a 'secret Rapture' and take
away the members of the true church to dwell in heaven" (Wright,
Conrad. "
“And he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his
tabernacle,
and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war
with the
saints, and to overcome them; and power was given him over all
kindreds, and
tongues, and nations” (JUDAH; Rev 13:6-7).
“For the day
shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the
earth;
and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity, they shall perish. But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth
shall repent of their wickedness and abominations, they shall not be
destroyed,
saith the Lord of hosts. But behold, that great and abominable church,
the
whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth; and great must be the
fall
thereof... there is nothing which is secret, save it shall be revealed;
there
is no work of darkness, save it shall be made manifest in the light;
and there
is nothing which is sealed upon the earth, save it shall be loosed”
(JOSEPH; 2
Ne 12:20-97).
17.
“Because baptism is necessary for salvation, anyone may baptize
an
infant in danger of death, and an aborted fetus, if alive, should be
baptized,
or if no sign of life is present, then the fetus should be baptized
conditionally.” (The Catholic
Encyclopedia,
1986, p. 65; Catholicism)
“But Jesus
said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for
of such
is the kingdom of heaven” (
“But little
children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if
not so,
God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to
persons;
for how many little children have died without baptism” (JOSEPH; Mor
8:13).
18.
“Theft, robbery, and rape of a beautiful woman and similar deeds
are
forbidden to every Gentile towards another Gentile, and also towards a
Jew: but
they are allowed to a Jew against a Gentile.” (Talmud, The Sanhedrin
57a;
Abodahzara, 13b, 26b; Zionism)
“Then Peter
opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no
respecter of
persons” (
“And behold,
it is written also, that thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine
enemy; But behold I say unto you, Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you,
and
pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you” (JOSEPH; 3 Ne
5:89-90).
19.
“A Jew may rob a Gentile, that is he may cheat him, if unlikely
to be
detected.” (Talmud, Choschen ha-Micchpat, 348,1; Zionism)
“Even a child
is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be
right. The hearing ear, and the seeing
eye, the
Lord hath made even both of them” (JUDAH; Prov 20:11-12).
“And we shall
be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a
bright
recollection of all our guilt” (JOSEPH; Alma 8:101).
20. “God is impersonal —
the Absolute Principle of pantheistic Hinduism, the Tao of Taoism, The
Godhead
of Christianity. Each person is a part
of God, and within each is a divine potential; therefore, all are
related.” (Mead & Hill, “Handbook
of Denominations,” 1985, p. 283; Theosophy) <side note: Theosophy
was a
movement started by Helena Blavatsky, born in
“Hearken
unto
me, O Jacob and
“And
Amulek
said unto him, Yea, he is the very eternal Father of heaven and of
earth, and
all things which in them is; He is the beginning and the end, the first
and the
last” (JOSEPH; Alma 8:94-95).
21.
"The world is headed toward community, reconciliation, learning,
sharing, spirituality and justice..." (W. Grant McMurray, 2000 World
Conference sermon, The Examiner; Communities of Christ)
“Let
no man
deceive you by any means; for there shall come a falling away first,
and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (JUDAH; 2 Th 2:3).
“For
the day
shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the
earth;
and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity, they shall
perish”
(JOSEPH; 2 Ne 12:20).
22.
“It may well be that there is no ultimately correct or universal
name
for the church, catching up the totality of the historical, emotional
and
symbolic meanings we might hold as members.”
(Geoffrey Spencer, The
“For
this
caused I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom
the
whole family in heaven and earth is named” (JUDAH; Eph 3:14-15).
“And
they
said unto him, Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby
we
shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people
concerning
this matter. And the Lord said unto them, Verily, verily I say unto
you, Why is
it that the people should murmur and dispute because of this thing?
Have they
not read the scriptures, which say, Ye must take upon you the name of
Christ,
which is my name? for by this name shall ye be called at the last day;
and
whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall
be saved
at the last day” (JOSEPH; 3 Ne 12:16-18).
23.
“He has been expected for generations by all of the major
religions.
Christians know him as the Christ, and expect his imminent return. Jews
await him
as the Messiah; Hindus look for the coming of Krishna; Buddhists expect
him as
Maitreya Buddha; and Muslims anticipate the Imam Mahdi or Messiah.”
(Share
International, Internet, Lord Maitreya). <Side note: Share
International
Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) in
association
with the Department of Public Information at the United Nations.>
“And
in all
things that I have said unto you be circumspect; and make no mention of
the name
of other gods, neither let it be heard out of thy mouth” (JUDAH; Exo
23:13).
“And
moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given, nor
any
other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of
men, only
in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (JOSEPH; Mos
1:116).
24.
“We are the Ancients, and our skin is red... farther back
through the
cycles of Time we knew the Great Wakon-Tah, but we forgot His words.”
(L.
Hansen, “He Walked the Americas,” 1997; Native American Indians)
“For
a small
moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
In a
little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer”
(JUDAH; Isa
54:7-8).
“And
at some
period of time they will be brought to believe in his word, and to know
of the
incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers; And many of them will
be
saved, for the Lord will be merciful unto all who call on his name”
(JOSEPH;
Alma 7:22-23).
Needless
to say, there has never been a time like the
present when mankind has been starved for truth. The
quotes above are but a few of thousands, millions, which
could be quoted. The Lord knew that we
would make a mess of his Word. He knew
we would need a second witness to
The world
would divert our time and focus away from
study and prayer. The world would try
to convince us that we are entitled to worldly happiness.
The world would entice us to crave adoration
and respect. Satan uses all these means
and more to distract, deceive, and conquer.
It is quite a thing to be complimented, adored and admired. The drive for power and material wealth
is
very seductive. To search out an easy
and fun way to salvation is to appease the natural man.
To the mortal mind, life is short, and so
it is only natural to fight against the narrow way.
Yet as a dear friend of mine once said to me, “Now is not our
time to rest, but to labor. We’ll have
plenty of time to rest later.” “... wo unto him that has the law given;
yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that
transgresseth
them, and that wasteth the days of his probation; for awful is his
state! O that cunning plan of the evil
one!” (2 Ne
6:56-57)
Does the
truth sting?
When some ugly truth about ourselves is revealed, do we stand up
to
it? Deny it? Justify
it? Refute
it? Ignore it? Or
do we recognize that the Lord is
humbling us? Refining us?
Perfecting us for his kingdom? How
we respond to the truth of our
inadequacies reveals much not only about our character, but about our
eternal
salvation. We have much to repent
of. To deny this is to deny Christ.
Get ready
for those hard sayings. Get ready to have
the writings of Joseph
confirm the truth (not the distortions) of the writings of
“And it came to pass that I said unto them,
that I knew
that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the
truth; and
the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be
lifted up at
the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it
cutteth
them to the very center.” (1 Ne 5:2)
~~~~~~
Author
notes:
I
did not
want to write this paper. The thoughts
about these “hard sayings” flooded me one day several months ago while
out
taking my morning walk. I was
immediately given to know that I must write a paper, showing
comparisons that
had been given to my understanding between false writings and true
writings. But there were so many....
hundreds... thousands. I returned
home
from the walk and immediately recorded a couple of those thoughts on
the
computer, and then filed them away. It
seemed like too ominous a task to write such a paper.
Then a few nights ago, the Lord flooded my mind again with the
same thoughts. I knew the first time,
and I knew the second time, that the Lord wanted me to write this paper. And so I began my research, dragging old
books off shelves. After the first day,
I was ready to give it up again. But
the Lord then used a friend to tell me (for the third time) that I
needed to
write the paper. I do not know if what
I have written is adequate, but I know that the Lord was with me as I
wrote
it. There are so many false
interpretations out there, that such a paper could quickly become a
novel. Nevertheless, I submit this short
work to
whomever the Lord desires to see it.
And I’m certain I would have had an easier time writing it had I
begun
several months ago when first prompted to do so.
Blessings
in
Christ,
Jan
Griffith
1/30/03