This being the last dispensation the Lord has restored the Gospel, with all its features and functions, never to be taken away again from the earth. As we have seen, however, this does not mean that the Church is obliged to promote laws the majority of members don’t want to live or are unworthy of, or doctrines they don’t understand or accept. The responsibility to keep such beliefs and ordinances alive still remains though, and there must be a group with sufficient authority, and at least a few worthy enough to see to it that His work in such areas is still carried on. This is in line with precedent and in fulfillment of prophesy.
What of those who keep such commandments alive? Who make the personal sacrifice of living God’s laws in opposition to the world, what are the Saints to make of such men and women the Lord has called to that work? Sadly, the majority of them – no longer being familiar with the principles they uphold, nor being aware of the Lord’s approval of their actions – would be more likely to condemn those Mormons who maintain Mormonism as Joseph and Brigham taught and lived it. Even many of the modern Authorities, whose time is taken up with dealing with the problems amongst members throughout the world, are very often unaware that a higher Priesthood organization exists and operates, that was set up under the direction of a prophet and President of the Church. This has led to misunderstandings, even to persecution and excommunication. Just as Brother John Taylor foresaw: “Some of you will be handled and ostracized and cast out from the Church by your brethren because of your faithfulness and integrity to this principle, and some of you may have to surrender your lives because of the same, but woe, woe, unto those who shall bring these troubles upon you.”(1)
The idea of righteous Saints being cast out of the Church is nothing new. Alma came upon members in his day who had been cast out of the synagogues(2), and Jesus also warned that it was a prospect that the righteous might face(3). Joseph once lamented how a man was tried for his membership because of his personal beliefs(4), and an Apostle decades later wrote in a Church magazine how sad it was that sometime people were excommunicated, when they shouldn’t have been, and how the Spirit remains with such people(5). Some have incorrectly supposed that having a person’s name removed from the records of the Church also removes any Priesthood that they held, but the Priesthood is only removed by personal unworthiness and not by Church courts, as John Taylor and Joseph F. Smith plainly taught(6).
Such action could not take place, however, without some leaders approving or at least overlooking the injustice. Most members have become unaware of the strange past of the Church, and look upon those who keep alive the ‘old’ ways as even stranger. As the traditions and teachings of ‘the world’ have gained greater acceptance amongst members, so too has intolerance of those lifestyles and ideas which seem to starkly conflict with the “American way” of life. Even many leading men within the Church have not been immune to such influences, and some have even been involved in the persecution of those men and women who live those laws the Church once promoted. Joseph warned that this would one day be the case, when he confided to a friend that, “You will live to see men arise in power in the Church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Saviour will be cast down.”(7)
The Lord does not give any commandment though without providing a way that the faithful might keep it. So too, unpopularity, excommunication, and even martyrdom has not stopped a group of Saints from ensuring that no year has passed without God’s highest laws being kept alive. “Though they may imprison or kill most Mormons there will always be someone left to carry on the work,”(8) said John Taylor, and he was a man who knew what his words meant. For he himself would spend most of his presidency in hiding, even from members who would have handed him in for the reward! And “woe unto those who cut men off from the Church for private pique, or to exercise undue dominion, or for any reason not prompted by truth and righteousness! All the acts of men, official or otherwise, will be reviewed and passed upon in that great day.”(9)
For as a First Presidency member, George Q. Cannon stated so powerfully, “I tell you, the salvation that will come to this people, will be through the faithfulness of the men of God and the women of God who, in the face of an opposing world, contrary to their traditions, to their education, to their pre-conceived notions and to the popular prejudices of the day – who have in the midst of all this stepped forward in the vanguard and obeyed the command of God, and have dared to endure all the consequences, and have been willing to endure all the penalties.”(10)
Part six will conclude this series tomorrow
1. Woolley affidavit.
2. Alma 32:2-3.
3. Matt 10:17, see John 9:22,12:42
4. “I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodists, and not like the Latter-Day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their Church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammelled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 5:340)
5. “Persons sometimes say that they have enjoyed the spirit of the work as much since they were cut off as while they were in the Church. Have they enjoyed the Spirit? Yes. Why? Simply because they were wrongfully cut off. They were cut off in a way that it did not not take the Spirit of the God from them. And the reason why they were cut off was because they didn’t come to the particular standard of perfection of those who dealt with them, or they did not come up to their feelings.” (Millennial Star 24:9)
6. “You cannot take away any man’s Priesthood without transgression.” (John Taylor, Times and Seasons 6:922.)
“No endowments or blessings in the house of the Lord, no Patriarchal blessings, no ordination to the Priesthood, can be taken away, once given. To prevent for just cause from exercising the rights and privileges of acting in the offices of acting in the Priesthood [within the Church], may be and has been done, and the person so silenced still remain a member of the Church, but this does not take away from him any Priesthood that he held.” (Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era 11:466.)
7. Joseph Smith, Mosiah Hancock Journal, p. 19.
8. Deseret News Weekly, 25 February 1885.
9. Millennial Star 40:262-63.
10. George Q. Cannon, 8 October 1882, Journal of Discourses 23:280.
The Last Prophecies of John Taylor – 5
Filed under: Thoughts & Commentary |
Prophecy Five
This being the last dispensation the Lord has restored the Gospel, with all its features and functions, never to be taken away again from the earth. As we have seen, however, this does not mean that the Church is obliged to promote laws the majority of members don’t want to live or are unworthy of, or doctrines they don’t understand or accept. The responsibility to keep such beliefs and ordinances alive still remains though, and there must be a group with sufficient authority, and at least a few worthy enough to see to it that His work in such areas is still carried on. This is in line with precedent and in fulfillment of prophesy.
What of those who keep such commandments alive? Who make the personal sacrifice of living God’s laws in opposition to the world, what are the Saints to make of such men and women the Lord has called to that work? Sadly, the majority of them – no longer being familiar with the principles they uphold, nor being aware of the Lord’s approval of their actions – would be more likely to condemn those Mormons who maintain Mormonism as Joseph and Brigham taught and lived it. Even many of the modern Authorities, whose time is taken up with dealing with the problems amongst members throughout the world, are very often unaware that a higher Priesthood organization exists and operates, that was set up under the direction of a prophet and President of the Church. This has led to misunderstandings, even to persecution and excommunication. Just as Brother John Taylor foresaw: “Some of you will be handled and ostracized and cast out from the Church by your brethren because of your faithfulness and integrity to this principle, and some of you may have to surrender your lives because of the same, but woe, woe, unto those who shall bring these troubles upon you.”(1)
The idea of righteous Saints being cast out of the Church is nothing new. Alma came upon members in his day who had been cast out of the synagogues(2), and Jesus also warned that it was a prospect that the righteous might face(3). Joseph once lamented how a man was tried for his membership because of his personal beliefs(4), and an Apostle decades later wrote in a Church magazine how sad it was that sometime people were excommunicated, when they shouldn’t have been, and how the Spirit remains with such people(5). Some have incorrectly supposed that having a person’s name removed from the records of the Church also removes any Priesthood that they held, but the Priesthood is only removed by personal unworthiness and not by Church courts, as John Taylor and Joseph F. Smith plainly taught(6).
Such action could not take place, however, without some leaders approving or at least overlooking the injustice. Most members have become unaware of the strange past of the Church, and look upon those who keep alive the ‘old’ ways as even stranger. As the traditions and teachings of ‘the world’ have gained greater acceptance amongst members, so too has intolerance of those lifestyles and ideas which seem to starkly conflict with the “American way” of life. Even many leading men within the Church have not been immune to such influences, and some have even been involved in the persecution of those men and women who live those laws the Church once promoted. Joseph warned that this would one day be the case, when he confided to a friend that, “You will live to see men arise in power in the Church who will seek to put down your friends and the friends of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Many will be hoisted because of their money and worldly learning which they seem to be in possession of; and many who are the true followers of our Lord and Saviour will be cast down.”(7)
The Lord does not give any commandment though without providing a way that the faithful might keep it. So too, unpopularity, excommunication, and even martyrdom has not stopped a group of Saints from ensuring that no year has passed without God’s highest laws being kept alive. “Though they may imprison or kill most Mormons there will always be someone left to carry on the work,”(8) said John Taylor, and he was a man who knew what his words meant. For he himself would spend most of his presidency in hiding, even from members who would have handed him in for the reward! And “woe unto those who cut men off from the Church for private pique, or to exercise undue dominion, or for any reason not prompted by truth and righteousness! All the acts of men, official or otherwise, will be reviewed and passed upon in that great day.”(9)
For as a First Presidency member, George Q. Cannon stated so powerfully, “I tell you, the salvation that will come to this people, will be through the faithfulness of the men of God and the women of God who, in the face of an opposing world, contrary to their traditions, to their education, to their pre-conceived notions and to the popular prejudices of the day – who have in the midst of all this stepped forward in the vanguard and obeyed the command of God, and have dared to endure all the consequences, and have been willing to endure all the penalties.”(10)
Part six will conclude this series tomorrow
1. Woolley affidavit.
2. Alma 32:2-3.
3. Matt 10:17, see John 9:22,12:42
4. “I did not like the old man being called up for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodists, and not like the Latter-Day Saints. Methodists have creeds which a man must believe or be asked out of their Church. I want the liberty of thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammelled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine.” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 5:340)
5. “Persons sometimes say that they have enjoyed the spirit of the work as much since they were cut off as while they were in the Church. Have they enjoyed the Spirit? Yes. Why? Simply because they were wrongfully cut off. They were cut off in a way that it did not not take the Spirit of the God from them. And the reason why they were cut off was because they didn’t come to the particular standard of perfection of those who dealt with them, or they did not come up to their feelings.” (Millennial Star 24:9)
6. “You cannot take away any man’s Priesthood without transgression.” (John Taylor, Times and Seasons 6:922.)
“No endowments or blessings in the house of the Lord, no Patriarchal blessings, no ordination to the Priesthood, can be taken away, once given. To prevent for just cause from exercising the rights and privileges of acting in the offices of acting in the Priesthood [within the Church], may be and has been done, and the person so silenced still remain a member of the Church, but this does not take away from him any Priesthood that he held.” (Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era 11:466.)
7. Joseph Smith, Mosiah Hancock Journal, p. 19.
8. Deseret News Weekly, 25 February 1885.
9. Millennial Star 40:262-63.
10. George Q. Cannon, 8 October 1882, Journal of Discourses 23:280.