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Salt is considered a precious commodity. When added to food it enhances and improves the flavor. It also acts as a preservative against decay and spoilage. When taken in a scriptural application the Lord likens His chosen Israel as salt. Chosen Israel is the flavoring that will preserve and save the Elect people upon the earth. They are literally God's favorites with whom He has great promises and covenants. Joseph Smith alludes quite clearly in the Lectures on Faith that God indeed does have favorites on the earth. This is evidenced throughout Israel's history as a people; when righteous, they were considered the salt of the earth through whom the blessings of Heaven would flow.
With that fact established, let us look at the scriptural record. In almost every instance, Israel is told that they are the salt of the earth. But, now comes the flip side of the coin: Israel is also told that if they lose their savor, they will be cast out, being of no worth to God or man. The following passages make it clear:
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." (Matthew 5:13)
" Then certain of them came to him, saying, Good Master, we have Moses and the prophets, and whosoever shall live by them, shall he not have life?
And Jesus answered, saying, Ye know not Moses, neither the prophets; for if ye had known them, ye would have believed on me; for to this intent they were written, For I am sent that ye might have life. Therefore I will liken it unto salt which is good; But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dung hill; men cast it out. He who hath ears to hear, let him hear. These things he said, signifying that which was written, verily must all be fulfilled." (JST Luke 14:35-38)
" And blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake; For ye shall have great joy and be exceedingly glad, for great shall be your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets who were before you.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor wherewith shall the earth be salted? The salt shall be thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men." (3rd Nephi 12: 11-13)
What historically happens to God's people when they begin to reject Him, change His Laws, alter His ordinances and set at naught His covenant? What happens to the Lord's people when they build up Babylon instead of Zion and go on whoring after the lusts, fashions and appetites of the world? What always happens to the people when they follow the Brethren in place of following the Spirit? In each and every case where Israel was rebellious and unrepentant they were destroyed and scattered. By this stark reality we can safely conclude that this will always be the case in time and eternity.
Where do the LDS leaders and people find themselves today? Their problem is that this apostasy has been slowly creeping in upon them for over 100 years. It is like the frog in a pan of water that is being heated up one degree at a time; the frog does not notice the ever increasing heat until it is too late. This is because over time the incremental changes are easy to bear. The LDS people today are in the same pan of water. The apostasy from truth has been so gradual and incremental that they do not even notice their almost complete assimilation into the darkness of Satan's power. This is called being in Satan's grasp. Have they built up Zion? Have they lived all the laws that will deliver them as a people? No, absolutely not. In fact, they have rejected every law that would establish Zion and have embraced every contrivance of Babylon to build up their pride and worldly success. They are told that all is well in Zion and that all they have to do is 'follow the Brethren'. This apostasy of the Lord's people in the last days was clearly seen and spoken of by the Holy Prophets. The LDS leaders and missionaries warn no one of the calamities which are to soon befall the earth because they are as blind as the world in regard to these things. The more they compromise true doctrines and principles, their numbers swell and flourish. This is because the world can more easily conform to the lessor standards that the LDS Church now embraces. They are the salt that has lost its savor and soon will be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. This means that in the day of their calamity they will be left to themselves as they have no priesthood power to deliver themselves at all. The Book of Mormon alone stands as a firm witness against the very things that the LDS people are perpetrating today.
The Lord in no uncertain terms puts the children of Zion on notice when he said:
" When men are called unto mine everlasting gospel, and covenant with an everlasting covenant, they are accounted as the salt of the earth and the savor of men;
They are called to be the savor of men; therefore, if that salt of the earth lose its savor, behold, it is thenceforth good for nothing only to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men." (D&C 101:39-40)
" But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them. For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men;
And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men." (D&C 103:8-10)
The day is now at hand when God will scourge and smite the LDS Church and people for their blindness and outright rebellion against the Holy One of Israel. His mighty wrath is about to descend upon them with great fury. The day is now at hand that great calamities of nature will wreak havoc upon those who do not keep their covenants. Economic distress will seize those who have placed their worship in the gods and idols of money and prosperity. God will destroy all these false gods and He will begin with the covenant people who mock Him and trample Him under their feet. The LDS people have built up Babylon, not Zion; Hell, not Heaven; Satan, not Christ; Gordon B. Hinckley, not Joseph Smith. They are the blind following the blind and they will all soon fall in the ditch together. The judges have issued their judgments and the LDS Church and people, being weighed in the balance, have been found wanting. The Elect within the LDS Church must quickly and promptly awaken to their plight and come out of her before it is too late. They must repent and come to Zion and do the works of the righteous laborer in Zion. They must sacrifice everything for the gospel's sake and put on the yoke of Christ. They must cast off all pride, arrogance, and the cares of the world and humbly walk away from the dying world and its empty promises. The righteous remnant is being called forward at this final time. Soon the testimony of men's words will be replaced with the testimony of the violence of nature and the calamitous rebuke of an offended God. Do not hesitate or procrastinate your repentance, for the day now edges near when deliverance will have passed you by and you are left to your fate with the ungodly. This is the warning that the servants of God give to this dying world and most especially to our brothers and sisters in the LDS Church. The LDS Church is identified with the gentiles in the Book of Mormon. With that in mind let us feel the truthful words of Christ as He renders a most profound prophecy about the last days:
" And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them. And then will I remember my covenant which I have made unto my people, O house of Israel, and I will bring my gospel unto them. And I will show unto thee, O house of Israel, that the Gentiles shall not have power over you; but I will remember my covenant unto you, O house of Israel, and ye shall come unto the knowledge of the fulness of my gospel.
But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel. And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father. But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people, O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them down, and they shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, O house of Israel.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me-that I should give unto this people this land for their inheritance. And then the words of the prophet Isaiah shall be fulfilled, which say:
Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eye of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God." (3rd Nephi 16:10-20)
The watchmen of the Lord do solemnly testify that the salt who headquarter themselves in Salt Lake City have incurred the wrath of the Almighty God and have lost their savor. They are now ready to be cast out and trodden under foot. So sayeth the Lord and His servants by the revelations of Heaven. The written word in the scriptures do testify against the apostasy of the Lord's people in the last days. This declaration is verily true as I testify of the same in the name of Jesus Christ, Son Ahman, Amen.
Jeffrey G. Hanks
President, Quorum of Twelve Apostles
The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days
Manti, Utah