“It must needs be expedient…”

In 2 Nephi where Jacob is speaking he states, “But behold, my brethren, it is expedient that I should awake you to an awful reality of these things? Would I harrow up your souls if your minds were pure? Would I be plain unto you according to the plainness of the truth if ye were freed from sin? Behold, if ye were holy, I would speak unto you of holiness, but as ye are not holy…, it must needs be expedient that I teach you the consequences of sin.”

I don’t know about you, but I am not holy and feel the need to understand the consequences of my sins, if I don’t repent. Wow, have you ever wondered or studied about that? What does sin do to us on a spiritual level? What does it look like?

We did the mini seminar this past Saturday and I had to give my daughter’s talk. She has some health and other issues going on and was not able to travel. Yes, it was a bummer in several ways, that I had to give her talk and she wasn’t there. But it made me think about some things at a much deeper level. What Jacob described above was one of them.

If we sin and aren’t aware, are the consequences different than if we sin knowingly? Are those that have modern scriptures like the Book of Mormon more accountable than those that don’t? I guess the condemnation that those of us with that book, that know of and have access to it, know the answer to that one, don’t we. That condemnation has not been lifted, we are still under it for taking its contents lightly.

In one part of what she shared, the Savior told her about the following scriptures and what happens when they are disobeyed:

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed is the man that trustest in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.” Jeremiah 17:5

“The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh.” D&C 1:19

“Cursed in he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.” 2 Nephi 28:31

It was mentioned by my sighted friend in her talk and my daughter that some “sacred cows” might be gored in their talks. I wondered if anyone went “moo” when this was brought up. I hope not, it is truth and scripture. It might be one reason many stand in condemnation because of our failure to abide by the precepts of the Book of Mormon. Do we just want to claim its contents, but not own them? Owning them means be accept they come from God and we agree to abide by them.

I am always curious about what happens on the spiritual side of things, both of light and dark. So when she told me that He wanted this discussed, I couldn’t wait for her to tell me what she sees when we put our trust in the arm of flesh, or hearken to the precepts of men. These scriptures plainly say that when someone does this they are then cursed. I can’t imagine how many people are walking around cursed because of the trust they put into a political leader, a political party, government, a church, or its leaders.

Why don’t we discuss these scriptures in our church classes or over the pulpit? Is it because we love our cognitive dissonance? Do we love our religious or political dogmas so much we are unable to see truth when it is plainly put in front of us? “Oh, those people are surely cursed because they love and put their trust in Obama or Trump.” But we don’t see we are doing the same thing with people in our own circle or lives. Does the curse still apply if we refuse to acknowledge it? Dumb question, right?

When we put our trust in flesh, be it a corporation, institution, religion, leaders, men, women or anything that is not the Lord Jesus Christ she sees the curse like this:

“When the curse comes upon them, I see dark tendrils come up from hell and attach to the persons feet. They always start at the feet and go up the body. The tendrils are not very strong at first. At the beginning, it’s like if you had a thin string, it’s really easy to break. As the person keeps declaring their trust in men or those other things, more tendrils come up from hell and attach to them. Soon it is like when you put many strings together and you are then unable to break them.

The person’s aura changes and becomes darker in color. Then a dark mist surrounds them. The tendrils make it easier for the entities from hell to attach to them and help them to do other sins. The mist makes their minds become darker to the things of light. When they transition it is real easy to pull them down into hell.”

Can it get worse? Yes. We did a blog post last year (I’ll let you find it) where in a class my “priesthood” leader declared that if we just follow the prophet we will be fine and make it back to heaven. Later that day he came over to my home. I considered him to be a good friend, I quite liked him. While chatting, what he said was brought up. I then told him of the scriptures that talk about how we are cursed if we trust in the arm of flesh. The statements he made to the group that day sure sounded like that was what he was doing. He actually agreed what he said was wrong, but said he got caught up in the moment as he was bearing testimony. I suggested he might want to repent and tell the group he had been wrong. It never happened.

Because he actually bore testimony of it while knowing it was wrong, do you think this curse might apply to him? Would it be worse because he knew what he said was not of God and went against God and His revealed word?

The answer is yes. Now three years and many operations later for his cancer, which he is still fighting, it is apparent that when something is declared by God, it happens. God doesn’t have to do anything, we do it to ourselves. We are the ones that are disobedient, whether we get “caught up in the moment of testimony” or for whatever reason, including ignorance. Natural law takes over and it happens – cause and effect. The curses are real and do influence our lives, even to the point of mortal death. The other day I was with my sighted friend and we passed this man’s home. He was outside with his wife. We hardly recognized him. My sighted friend sighed and said, “If he would only repent.” Makes you think, doesn’t it.

This was just one of the things my daughter said the Lord Jesus Christ wanted taught at the mini workshop. Sounds pretty serious and worth much consideration about how we are living our lives, obeying our Lord Jesus Christ, and not trusting in the arm of flesh. But as in all things that we have ever taught, please don’t believe a word of it. Please take all things to Him, our Lord and Savior, to get a witness if it is truth. But be careful, if a witness is given then we are accountable. Hey, it might be better to keep our cognitive dissonance ongoing, keep our head in the sand, and declare, “Lord we didn’t know!” Isn’t ignorance bliss? Or is it just plain stupidity? I’m sure He will overlook it for us and never condemn us. Isn’t that condemnation declared way back in the early 1800’s in the D&C just for those that don’t have the Book of Mormon? It can’t be for us, I’ve been told for nearly all my life that we are chosen. Ancient Israel was also chosen and He didn’t condemn them, did He? (If you believe this, please don’t read Duet. 28 where God has 14 verses of blessings and 54 verses of curses He gave to ancient Israel.) I’m equally sure those curses won’t affect us either……

She also had me teach that the chasm between the Savior and the Adversary is growing quite wide. We all will be required to make a choice between one and the other. There will be no jumping from one side to the other, going back and forth as many do now. Funny, we did a blog about that one too.

If was her hope that we all make the right choice.

By the way, we did record the mini seminar. It will be edited and available in about two weeks.