Interestingly enough, the post I read was about not being deceived, which is something I have been thinking a lot about lately. So I am posting his thoughts. He's pretty on and I agree with him.
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And Have Not Been Deceived
July 10, 2012 by John M. Pontius
UnBlog # 495
As
we turn our eyes on the times around us, and view the churning events
that seem to tell us the promised days of Zion are approaching, the
possibility of being deceived grows ever greater.Let me say as strongly as I possibly can, that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is operating as Jesus Christ directs it. Only a few times in history has it happened that we, the people, actually laid hold upon the full blessings being offered by the living prophet, and established Zion in our dispensation. Every other time, we gave it a shot, failed, and the Lord withdrew the privilege for a time.
The problem has never been a failure of the living prophet. It has always been a failure of the would-be saints to climb the holy mount to the face of God – which is the final step in establishing Zion. We become so caught up in the details of survival, society and seeking prosperity that we forget, or we never see, the foundations of our Zion being built all around us.
“And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.” (D&C 45:56-57)
There are three steps we must take to not be cast down into the fire, and abide the day.
1) We must receive the truth. It is tempting to say that the truth is found within the church, but saying so sets you up for embracing a deception. The truth is found within the gospel, which is righteously and correctly being administered by the Church. But the Church cannot save us. The Church programs can’t save us. The temple can’t save us. Only Jesus Christ, and the Gospel that circumscribes his every truth and power and grace in our lives can save us. We come unto Christ and are perfected in Him. (Moroni 10:31-32) We do this in large part by ordinances, and by giving our loyalty and love to the latter-day church. But, it is Christ that saves us. This truth gives us the safety of searching all truth, and laying hold of all good things without regard to what we see others doing, and not stumbling because of real or perceived flaws in the Church.
2) We must take the Holy Spirit to be our guide. Why? Because the church publishes manuals and scripture, but the “Gospel” only publishes truth via the Holy Spirit. The only way to partake of the purest truths is by being guided there by the Holy Spirit. This is the voice of Christ, and it is what brings us to Christ in order that we might be “perfected in Him”.
3) We must not be deceived. The truth is – there are one billion or more ways to be deceived, and only one way (through the Gospel blessings and the voice of Christ) that we may not be deceived. There is one straight and narrow way through these times, and a billion other ways out.
There seems to be two types of people whose deceptions take them away from the restored gospel. There are those who never caught the spiritual power of what they have, and for some reason become disenchanted with the restored gospel and step away. They don’t like something they think is amiss in the church, or they were offended, or they were proselytized away by anti-minded imps.
The second group consists of people who view the gospel as a great blessing, and who have begun to experience great things in their personal quest. The scriptures become more clear. The Holy Spirit feeds their soul, and they leap into blessings they read about in the Scriptures, but have never heard a living person claim. Occasionally, they begin to look back at the Church and wonder why they don’t see more people rising spiritually, or why certain subjects are not more clearly taught in official church meetings. They begin to wonder what’s wrong, and if these wonderful people have not fully taken the Holy Spirit to be their guide, they sometimes step away also. They sometimes do so sadly, and at other times with a smug attitude that they have evolved beyond the church. Such is surely a most dangerous and satanically inspired deception.
Deception nearly always entices and encourages us to sever our connection with the true and living church. Pure truth always entices us to align our lives with the living church and to remain “faithful and true in all things”.
When the latter-day scenes are enacted, our living prophet, and this latter-day church will be the focal point of all that occurs. The latter-day Zion will be a blossoming of this church, not a replacement. There is no scenario wherein Jesus Christ leads someone outside of His fold.
We who stay within the latter-day fold -and- lay hold upon all the Gospel offers - are they who have not been deceived.
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Keep Calm and Carry On.
And face your questions and worries with optimism and faith.
Everything will work out.
We know which team wins. Seriously. We know. Which team will you be working for?
There are only two teams.
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