2.24.2009

pgs. 102 and 103...come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.

14 But behold, I prophesy unto you concerning the alast days; concerning the days when the Lord God shall bbring these things forth unto the children of men.
15 After my seed and the seed of my brethren shall have adwindled in unbelief, and shall have been smitten by the Gentiles; yea, after the Lord God shall have bcamped against them round about, and shall have laid siege against them with a mount, and raised forts against them; and after they shall have been brought down low in the dust, even that they are not, yet the words of the righteous shall be written, and the cprayers of the faithful shall be heard, and all those who have ddwindled in unbelief shall not be forgotten.
16 For those who shall be destroyed shall aspeak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.
17 For thus saith the Lord God: They shall awrite the things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and bsealed up in a book, and those who have dwindled in cunbelief shall not have them, for they dseek to destroy the things of God.
18 Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily; and the multitude of their aterrible ones shall be as bchaff that passeth away—yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly—
19 And it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled in unbelief shall be asmitten by the hand of the Gentiles.
20 And the Gentiles are lifted up in the apride of their eyes, and have bstumbled, because of the greatness of their cstumbling block, that they have built up many dchurches; nevertheless, they eput down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own flearning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.
21 And there are many churches built up which cause aenvyings, and bstrifes, and cmalice.
22 And there are also secret acombinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the bdevil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and cworks of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever.
23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in adarkness.
24 He doeth not aanything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he bloveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw call men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: aCome unto me all ye bends of the earth, cbuy milk and honey, without money and without price.
26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should adepart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his asalvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath bgiven it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to crepentance.
28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but aall men are privileged the one blike unto the other, and none are forbidden.
29 He commandeth that there shall be no apriestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set bthemselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get cgain and dpraise of the world; but they seek not the ewelfare of Zion.
30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have acharity, which bcharity is clove. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.
31 But the alaborer in bZion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for cmoney they shall perish.
32 And again, the Lord God hath acommanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not bsteal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in cvain; that they should not denvy; that they should not have emalice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit fwhoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.
33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he ainviteth them ball to ccome unto him and partake of his goodness; and he ddenieth none that come unto him, black and white, ebond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the fheathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

These verses are of special interest to all of us because, as it says in verse 14, they are a prophesy of our day, the day when these writings have been "brought forth unto the children of men." Much of what was prophesied has already happened...the "many churches" in verse 20, the "secret combinations and works of darkness" in verse 22, the "priestcraft" in verse 29. To me all of this just refers to the fact that Satan's influence is rampant in our world today. One commentary I read about these verses suggested that the "flaxen cord" in verse 22 is symbolic of the temptations and sins that are relatively easy to overcome if we do it in this life but if we don't they become the "strong cords" that give Satan power over us forever. The hopeful message of these pages is in verse 28 where we are taught that when it comes to the salvation of God, "all men are priviliged, the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden."