"A God of Unconditional Love"
by Randolph E. Maudsley
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At this time, I feel I'd like to address attitudes and mind sets. One of the main problems mainstream members of the LDS and other churches face in this day and age, is their having created an image of God based upon perverted and false doctrines, and untruths, even the philosophies of men mingled with scriptures. The image they have created fits their misconceptions of what they think God should be - A God of unconditional love - A God who will save them in their sins and a God who allows -
"every man (to) walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall." (Doctrine and Covenants 1:16)
Possibly, this is one of the main reasons the LDS Church leaders removed the "Doctrines" from the book, "Doctrines and Covenants", in 1921; that the members of the LDS Church might not obtain a true understanding of the nature and character of God; that they might not know the attributes of and what kind of god they ought to worship. The "Doctrines" removed from the book of Doctrines and Covenants, are "The Lectures on Faith". Basically, Lecture First deals with faith itself and what it is. Lecture Second deals with what faith rests upon, and Lecture Third deals with the character of God and who God is -
"Having previously been made acquainted with the way the idea of his (God's) existence came into the world, as well as the fact of his existence, we shall proceed to examine his character, perfections, and attributes, in order that this class may see, not only the just grounds which they have for the exercise of faith in him for life and salvation, but the reasons that all the world, also, as far as the idea of his existence extends, may have to exercise faith in him, the Father of all living." (Lecture Third, vs 6.)
So, if Eve is the Mother of All Living, then who is the Father of All Living? Brigham Young plainly taught in a General Conference of the LDS Church, April 9th, 1852 -
"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken-He is our Father and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later." (Journal of Discourses, Vol.1:50.)
Brigham went on to say -
"When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family; and when he took a tabernacle, it was begotten by his Father in heaven, after the same manner as the tabernacles of Cain, Abel, and the rest of the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve; " (Journal of Discourses, Vol.1:50.)
Then, Lecture Fourth deals with the correct understanding of God. Lecture Fifth deals with the character of the Godhead. Lecture Sixth deals with knowledge bringing forth faith and the sacrifice of all things. And Lecture Seventh deals with the results of our having exercised faith - salvation & exaltation!
Mainstream members of the LDS Church and other so-called Christian Churches of today, have no concept or understanding of God. God requires that we obey Him, plain and simply. I've found that people of the world neither trust nor believe God - they can't believe God, because they don't trust God. God requires that we trust Him. How can anyone obey a God or anyone for that matter, that they cannot or do not trust? They can't and they don't! Christ said that if we love Him, we we keep His commandments - any questions? So, what or who do people of the world trust in? In whom do the LDS people trust? Both place all their trust in the arm of the flesh or in the flesh of their own arm; their ability to be self-reliant or self-sufficient; they proclaim that they provide for themselves and others, taking all credit to themselves for what they have and what they surmise that they have made of themselves. Excuse me, God provides everyone everything that they have need of, if they will trust in Him? Now, Sons of Perdition and the wicked of the world must "murder to get gain", by forcefully taking from those, that which God provides, unto themselves and call it good business or good government - God calls this grinding on the face of the poor, for the "poor" are those who are actually actively involved in the building up the kingdom of God on this earth and pushing forward the cause of Zion, not Babylon! When called to come out of the world and to trust in God, the wicked ask -
"But what will become of me if I should leave his employ?" (The Endowment)
When the Father and the Son appeared to the young Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove, Joseph testifies -
"I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.' " (Joseph Smith History, pg 49, vs 19.)
"Having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof" is just another way of saying that people don't believe God can do what He says He can do - they neither believe God can save them or get them! Let me explain - people of the world and this includes the LDS people, do not understand what it means to be saved or delivered from death. If you were about to drown in the ocean and man yelled to you from a boat, "I'll save you! I'll save you! But you have to die first!" What would you think? Do you get the idea? When God or anyone delivers us from our enemies, He saves our life! We don't die!
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:14-15.)
Satan and death are the last enemy to be conquered. To be delivered or saved, one is translated and taken to the Heavenly City or Zion - and they do not die, but they are dead to the world, for they have come out of the world and all who remain in the world shall be destroyed (die) with the world. We are all commanded to come out of the world and take no part of her.
It is a sin to remain "in the world," but "not of the world" - huh? It's impossible to be in a mud puddle and not get muddy. We are called of God to gather together out of the world, in unto one place on this continent, to build the kingdom of God and to establish Zion on this earth; that when the kingdom of Heaven (Zion) shall come down, that there will be a kingdom of God (Zion) on this earth waiting to unify with them. Jesus Christ is not a liar and neither is His Father, God can save us if we will obey Him; if we obey Him, then we can proclaim that we love Him. If we trust God, we can then obey Him - trusting God to save us and to provide for us all that we have need of, even protection. God will fight our battles for us if we will keep His commandments, even to protecting us from the power of Satan and the last enemy - death!
Remember, Jesus Christ plainly taught -
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death." (John 8:51.)
But, people of the world do not believe God can or will provide for them or protect them, they do not trust God! Therefore, they cannot and they do not obey God. Thus, they do not merit God's protection or the application of the atonement of His Son Jesus Christ, that they can be saved from death and their enemies. It's a never ending, vicious circle of disbelief (no faith) or mistrust of God, and all the wicked of the world are stuck in it. So, they place their trust in the treasures of the earth, gold and silver, retirement accounts and the stock markets, plain and simply, carnal security! Thus, when these things fail, so does the image of the god that they have created or has been in their minds; a God who loves everybody unconditionally and will save them in their sins. Their god has no power to save them or to get them in their sins. Otherwise, they would not do the things that they do and don't do. Think about it!
A man came to me once, complaining that he'd lost his faith in God; that he no longer believed Joseph Smith to be a true prophet of God nor that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. Why do you suppose this man found himself in this position of disbelief? Because the image of a man called Joseph Smith, created in his mind by the modern LDS people and their leaders, had been shattered! He had idolized the image of the man Joseph Smith, which image was of a man who'd never drink whiskey or smoke a pipe, because the image in his mind justified his own concepts of what is right and what is wrong; and this gave him a standard by which to gauge his own self-righteousness by the letter of the law. "Joseph Smith didn't drink whiskey or smoke pipes, as he was a righteous man. So am I righteous also, for neither do I smoke or drink such.", said this man. But, when he found that Joseph did drink whiskey and smoke a pipe, he declared Joseph Smith to be a false prophet. It was either Joseph Smith was a false prophet or he wasn't a righteous man or worse, he'd have to repent for condemning those who drank and smoked, as Joseph did! And God knows, he had no reason to repent, for he was righteous. Thus, he lost his testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, because of pride, self-righteousness and idolatry of an image of the Prophet Joseph Smith - the image of a man who never existed, as it is represented to the LDS people today.
You see, this man's loss of his testimony of Joseph's being a true prophet of God, brought into question the validity of the Book of Mormon, and since the Book of Mormon agrees and is in harmony with the Bible, his testimony of the Bible departed from him as well - then that of Jesus's being the Christ! His conclusion was that of God's not being worthy of his trust - He could not longer believe in God or believe a god so full of contradictions! Rather, he could no longer believe or believe in, the image of a god that he had worshiped! So, he returned to his bank accounts, his securities and properties, even all his carnal securities; and there he remains to this day, trusting only in the strength of his own arm and his own ability to provide for himself and his family - he is now righteous again, because he works hard every day! Because he provides for himself! He has no need to repent! After all, he would not be so blessed with the things of the world, if he weren't righteous. His successes in Babylon are proof of his righteousness. He deserves all that he has, because he obtained it through his own efforts, cunning and skills. Even though he's obtained all that he has by somewhat less than honorable practices and means, yet still acceptable and good business ethics, he is assured the love of the image of an unjudgmental god. A god who loves him in spite of his doing whatever is necessary to survive in the world - a god of unconditional love. The image of a god who understands and overlooks his doings in the world, who might punish him with a few stripes, then save him in his sins! This man worshiped an idol, and now he worships another idol, and neither are the God of Heaven! All because he can't and won't trust God, and so he can't obey God, so he doesn't love God and places himself outside the conditions whereby God can and will save him and provide for him. Too bad he's chosen to believe the lie created by the wicked of the world and the leaders of the churches of the world, and of the apostate LDS Church. The Prophet Nephi correctly taught -
"For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord's; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord's; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord -
And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.
And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept (follow the brethren); for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;
Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.
Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us. And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God - He will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.
And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.
Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.
Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.
They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.
They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.
O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!
Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that is of no worth! 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.
For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish;
For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well - And thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none - And thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance.
Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." (Second Book of Nephi 28:3-30.)
Aren't these very things that Nephi speaks of, what the LDS Church and it's leaders do and teach their members today? Let me just quote Gordon B. Hinckley -
"We don't need more revelation. At this time we just need to follow, more closely, the revelation we've already received. And we'll be all right. Don't worry, the Lord is at the helm." (Gordon B. Hinckley; Church Educational System fireside; March 3, 1994.)
"We have enough", "We'll be all right" or all is well! And -
"If you were to read the Washington Post this morning you'd think the whole nation was going down the drain, and the whole world. Oh, Mr. Nesbaum resigned a day or two ago and Whitewater is on the minds of the people, and a lot of things of that kind. You open to the editorial page where a very able writers give their thoughts and you'd think that they had spent the day sucking on a pickle (laughter) before they wrote the column. This is not my written script. (laughter) Just nothing but wrong, everything's wrong, negative. The country's in such serious trouble, and so forth, and so forth. I contrast that with the optimism I feel concerning the Church of which we're members. This is the greatest day, the greatest season in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in my judgment. How wonderful to be alive today. How wonderful to be a part of this great cause, at this time, in the history of the world, and in the history of this Church. Never has it been so large, never has it been so strong, never has it been so highly regarded, never has it made the kind of progress that it's making today. I say that with great humility, and with great appreciation." (Gordon B. Hinckley; Church Educational System fireside; March 3, 1994.)
Really? Can you hear the voices of the true prophets of God?
"Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil;" (Exodus 23:2.)
"And when the spirit of persecution, the spirit of hatred, of wrath, and malice ceases in the world against this people, it will be the time that this people have apostatized and joined hands with the wicked..." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4:326-327.)
"The time will come when this people will be led onto the very brink of hell by their leaders, then the one mighty and strong will come to set the house in order." (Brigham Young, 'Joseph Musser Journal', Old Bowery, Provo, pg 79.)
"And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well -"
I'm trying to show both one and all, clearly and plainly, that they have been deceived and worship the image and likeness of a false god who loves to make a lie. It is true God loves all His children, but God's children obey Him; for verily, God hates liars and hypocrites and the works of darkness - that doesn't sound to me like a God who loves everybody. God loves His people more than those who are not His people. He also loves some individuals more than others; He also loves those who love Him and keep His commandments! That sounds like conditional love to me!
Members of the LDS Church have told me, "A righteous man would never break the word of wisdom." Really? Well, let's see what Joseph Smith himself had to say about this false belief and tradition taught them by uninspired and apostate leaders -
"What many people call sin is not sin; I do many things to break down superstition, and I will break it down. I referred to the curse of Ham for laughing at Noah, while in his wine, but doing no harm. Noah was a righteous man, and yet he drank wine and became intoxicated; the Lord did not forsake him in consequence thereof, for he retained all the power of his Priesthood, and when he was accused by Canaan, he cursed him by the Priesthood which he held, and the Lord had respect to his word, and the Priesthood which he held, notwithstanding he was drunk, and the curse remains upon the posterity of Canaan until the present day." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg 193-4; History of the Church, Vol. 4:446.)
Remember -
"A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion - To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint." (Doctrine and Covenants 89:1-2)
"If anything should have been suggested by us, or any names mentioned, except by commandment, or thus saith the Lord, we do not consider it binding;" (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. 3, pg 295.)
The people of the world, including the LDS people, have their own personal opinions and standards of a false image of a true prophet of God, taught to them by false prophets! When they learn of some of the things Joseph did, which do not fit into their neat little codes of righteous conduct, they judge Joseph a false prophet! They cannot trust Joseph or believe him, or the God he proclaimed to have raised him up. Many have adopted the image of a demigod created by the false prophets and apostles of the LDS Church, the enemies of righteousness, and do now err in their judgments of the Prophet Joseph Smith and also his prophecies and revelations, based upon their own perceived standards or creeds -
"I do not like the old man being called up (a church court) for erring in doctrine. It looks too much like the Methodist, 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 trammeled. It does not prove that a man is not a good man because he errs in doctrine." (Joseph Smith Jun., April 8th, 1843, 'Court of Pelatiah Brown'.)
The misperceptions and false concepts of what constitutes righteousness and a righteous man, have left many of the members of the LDS Church nothing but the false prophets and apostles of the modern LDS Church, and the false image they have created for consumption - to be worshiped, to be obedient to, to love and adore. Damnable idolatry!
In 1831, Joseph Smith foretold of this very thing yet to come -
"They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall." (Doctrine and Covenants 1:16.)
I hope this letter has not been to long. This topic I've felt to discuss cannot be
addressed in a few short lines. I feel these things are important at this time; that men
and women might get themselves back on the right course and that they might gain or regain
their testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Prophet Joseph Smith. I have to show that
God, that men have believed in all their lives, is not the image of a god that the people
of the world and the LDS people do now worship; that what they have supposed to be
righteousness, is not necessarily righteousness.
When the LDS people departed from the higher law and priesthood in 1890 and inherited the
lesser law, which is a law unto death, they also began to worship the letter of the law as
did the Jews, and can no longer see or understand the spirit of the law. The LDS Church
and it's people worship the Word of Wisdom as the letter of the law and it has become
their standard for righteousness and their law unto death - as they continue to die. They
do not seek to build the kingdom of God nor do they advance the cause of Zion, but that of
Babylon and the world. Neither do any of the churches of men.
It is my hope to help men and women know the truth, and to keep all the sayings of
Jesus Christ. It is my intent to teach them plainly concerning the apostasy of the world
and of the LDS Church; and of this, the Lord's "Strange Act". I ask that men and
women pray about the things I write and ask the Lord for the witness of His Spirit
concerning them, that they might know of their own selves, whether they be true or not. I
testify the things I have written are true! This is my witness and testimony in the name
of Jesus Christ, whose Apostle I am. Amen.