for they were all wrong, and...all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that they draw near to me with their lips and 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 1:19)

     Those words in today's context of greater tolerance and more positive public relations sound harsh. Yet they still lie at the basis of our massive missionary program to emphasize the Savior's message that there can only be one true Church, teaching the one true gospel, holding the one true priesthood and teaching the one true concept of God and salvation.

     In this year's campaign by the Southern Baptist Church, we were challenged on our own turf as to whether we still believed that criticism was as true in our day for all Christian churches as it might have been in the town of Palmyra in Joseph Smith's day. In their beautiful video, The Mormon Puzzle, they declare:

     The Mormons are the people who need desperately the biblical gospel, the biblical good news of Jesus Christ. The people who genuinely think they are Christian, and yet, when we view their doctrines, and when we view their beliefs, it is obvious that they don't have a biblical doctrine of the gospel...and unless we present to them the true gospel of the Bible, THEY WILL BE LOST ETERNALLY.(The Mormon Puzzle, North America Mission Board, Southern Baptist)

     After writing my book, Solving the Mormon Puzzle, which gives a friendly but pointed answer to their video, I spent some time with Mike Gray, the Southern Baptist pastor in Salt Lake City who is on the video. He assured me that they are not trying to get Mormons to leave their church, but to get us to understand more about the true nature and mercy of God and thus receive the free gift of Christ's grace. He acknowledged that the LDS Church has moved more toward Christ and grace in the last dozen years. But he complained, "Now they want us to embrace them as fellow Christians, and when we do, they still stab us in the back with the words Joseph Smith said the Savior told him, that all the churches were wrong and their professors were all corrupt, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."

     Naturally, any devout Christian would resent such a broad castigation of their loved and respected ministers, just as we disagree with them when they say that we are lost forever to an everlasting hell. On our current level of tolerance and appreciation for the sincerity of most people in their religious beliefs, such contention and divisiveness, no matter how kindly put, does not seem to do any of us justice, let alone mercy. Certainly, we feel, Mormons are not the children of hell that eternal damnation would imply, any more than are devout Catholics, Protestants or Jews.
     Yet, do we still believe in the universal application of the words Christ gave to the young boy who was lacking wisdom, thus asking of God, "who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not?" Is there a meaning which goes beyond the view which claims that there is one and only one absolute truth?

     In my books on President Benson's promise of A Blessing Hitherto Unknown, I emphasize the two opposite ways of understanding the gospel, one symbolized by the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the other symbolized by the tree of life.

TREE OF KNOWLEDGE- The tree of knowledge represents the temporal and spiritual laws God has given to different peoples at different times, such as the law of Moses and the law of the gospel. Whichever law people are under, they strive to be obedient but, invariably, are not able to do so perfectly. In fact, the law is designed to make every man a sinner. As Lehi declared, "Men are taught sufficiently to know good and evil and the law is given unto them. And by the law NO FLESH IS JUSTIFIED or by the LAW men are CUT OFF." (2 Nephi 2:5)

     The scriptures call this law the "preparatory gospel" because it is to get a people ready to move from a legalistic approach to God to a love relationship with God, called the "fullness of the gospel," which is beautifully symbolized by the tree of life.

THE TREE OF LIFE- Nephi found that the tree of life is a symbolic representation of "the love of God which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men, wherefore it is the most desirable above all things." (1 Nephi 11:22)

This blessing, Christ's greatest gift, is his perfect love which the Father bestows on all who are TRUE followers of his Son. (Moroni &:47) This is called charity. This never-failing, perfect and pure love casts out all fear.

     As we are taught in the temple, we cannot have both trees at the same time. The tree of knowledge is the tree of separateness, fear and condemnation. The tree of life is the tree of comprehending the oneness of all things, thus divine love, joy and peace which is incomprehensible to the natural man.
     So is this gift of perfect love the grace that our evangelical Christians are talking about and that they believe most burdened Latter-day Saints are failing to experience? To a small degree, the answer could be yes. But grace, as it is defined by born-again Christians, may be only the tip of the gospel's promise. For as wonderful an experience as they are talking about, the gift of Christ's perfect love takes one beyond judgmentalness. We are to be known by our fruits, and if our fruit is one of condemnation and intolerance, have we really found and partaken of the tree of life?
     Let's remember, as I point out in Solving the Mormon Puzzle, the Christians at Corinth were blessed with spiritual gifts exceeded by no other congregation, but yet they could only be fed spiritual milk and, as Paul sadly declared, were not ready to be given the spiritual meat. Why? Because they were still contending about who was right and wrong.

     The0re is a reason why Paul taught that love is far greater than knowledge or faith. He would know because he had once been a totally dedicated Pharisee himself. Christ severely rebuked and chastised the Pharisees for they had not come unto him and receive his gift of perfect love, which he called the fountains of living water that he would place in their inner beings. They could not comprehend that the perfect love Christ sheds into the heart enables one to spiritually fulfill all the law and the prophets. As Christ said at the Last Supper:

     A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU...By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have [my perfect] love one to another... If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in [experience] my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that MY JOY might remain in you, and that YOUR JOY MIGHT BE FULL. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I HAVE LOVED YOU.(John 13:34-35 & 15:10-12)

     Without this, the most precious gift Christ has to offer, there is no other way we can love one another the way he loves us. The reason is that, try as the natural man may, their love for one another is still involved in fear. When our love is mixed with fear, it is called "walking in darkness at noonday." (D&C 95:6) Fear is darkness rather than light. As John the Beloved explained, that Christ's perfect "love casteth out fear, for fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (I John 4:18). Notice how clear John emphasized this deeper level of love, which he compared to light in contrast to darkness.

If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin...
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments [of perfect love]. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whosoever keepeth his word, in him verily is the LOVE OF GOD PERFECTED, hereby know we that we are IN HIM. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.(I John 1:6-7 & 2:3-6)

     It appears that what was true among the contentious Christians at Corinth in the days of Paul may have gradually become the accepted level of all Christianity in the centuries which followed. If that is so, then would not the words Christ gave to Joseph Smith be rather universally true? Notice his words: "They draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They teach for doctrines the commandments of men [right out of the scriptures], having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof [by not receiving the gift of his perfect love]."
     Is this why all the churches were wrong and their professors corrupt? We will find the answer in the 84th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants which explains why the whole world is covered in darkness and sin. Section 84 begins by describing ancient Israel's great Provocation and why they lost access to the tree and life and were given the tree of knowledge instead.

     But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore...they should not enter into his REST while in the wilderness, which REST is the fullness of his glory.
     Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also. And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel,
     Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Israel. (D&C 84:24-25)

     So that is why Israel received the strict law of ordinances and performances known as the law of Moses. So in the days of Christ, even though they were sincerely teaching out of their scriptures, Christ spoke as severely about them as he did about the Christian churches to Joseph Smith in these latter days. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." (Matthew 23:13)

     After describing the fall of Israel, Section 84 goes on to explain that the Spirit is given to every man, "and every man that hearkenth to the voice of the Spirit cometh unto God even the Father. And the Father teacheth him of the covenant."(D&C 84:46-48)And what is this covenant that only the Father teaches? Moroni closes the Book of Mormon with a clear definition of this covenant, which he calls the "covenant of the Father:"

     And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in [the love of] Christ...which is the covenant of the Father, unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot. (Moroni 10:33)

     So has the world, even the Christian world, been truly willing to hearken to the voice of the Spirit more than ancient Israel and fully come to receive the precious gift of the Father's sacred covenant? The next verse in the 84th Section gives the answer. The answer is NO! This is what the Lord revealed:

     And the whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin. And by this you may know they are under the bondage of sin, because they come not unto me [and receive my gift of perfect love]...And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now.

     The "whole world" includes the Christian churches, of course. But what about the Latter-day Saints? Are they an island of light and perfect love in the sea of darkness? The answer is given in the very next verses, from 53 to 59.

     And your minds in times past have been darkened [still hanging onto fear] because of unbelief [in the promise of Christ's gift], and because you have treated lightly the things you have received [regarding the new covenant]¾
     Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, EVEN ALL.
     And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant...not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written. That they may bring forth fruit [from the tree of life] meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion. For shall the children of the kingdom pollute my holy land? Verily, I say unto you, Nay. (D&C 84:54-59)

     This revelation was received in April, 1832. By the next year, the saints were driven out of Zion and have not yet been allowed to return. The loss of the Kirtland Temple in 1837, the great suffering during the expulsion from Missouri in 1839, forced out of Illinois in 1846, the burning of the newly dedicated Nauvoo temple, the painful trek to the wilderness of the west, the Utah War in 1857, the polygamy persecutions in the 1880s, the confiscation of all church property in the 1890s and many other physical trials attest to the fulfillment of the Lord's warning.

     But now, in our great day of growth and prosperity, has the judgment and condemnation been lifted? With temples beginning to cover the earth, with missionaries in almost every land, with the world standing in awe and wonder at our successes, has the condemnation been lifted? If it has not, then we have some exciting news. As great as our blessings are now, then they wouldn't hold a candle to the ones the Lord has in store for us. As the Lord revealed to Brigham Young during the dire and painful circumstances at Winter Quarters,

     My people must be tried in ALL THINGS, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, EVEN THE GLORY OF ZION... Therefore, marvel not at these things, for ye are not yet pure; ye cannot yet bear [the fullness of] my glory; but ye shall behold [my glory] if ye are faithful in keeping all my words [through my perfect love].      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion and the church would receive a blessing hitherto unknown.



     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zionELDER DALLIN OAKS BEARS WITNESS

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     A year and half before President Benson's death, Elder Dallin Oaks of the Quorum of Twelve in a BYU address rebroadcast by satellite throughout the Church in June, 1993, and published in the March, 1994 issue of the Ensign, gave a major address regarding President Benson's special message for the church. Elder Oaks revealed that President Benson, in his second year as our prophet, met with all the General Authorities in a temple meeting. In that session, he pled for them to take seriously this revelation he had received from the Lord. Here is a key part of Elder Oaks' address:

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     Along with other General Authorities, I have a clear recollection of the General Authority Temple Meeting on March 5, 1987. For a year, President Benson had been stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon. Repeatedly he had quoted these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants [D&C 84:53-57]      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion , including the Lord's statement that the Saints' conduct had "brought the whole church under condemnation."
     In that temple meeting, President Benson reread those statements and declared, "This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be until we repent." He also repeated his declaration of a year earlier that "in our day the Lord has inspired His servant to reemphasize the Book of Mormon to get the Church out from under condemnation.
     Along with others, I felt the impact of this declaration of condemnation. As I studied the subject, I was relieved to find that the serious consequences of this condemnation need not be permanent. The use of this term elsewhere in modern revelation suggests that it refers to a punishment or a penalty, not to a permanent banishment. In fact, the words President Benson quoted invite the Saints to repent of their deficiencies so the condemnation can be removed. (Ensign, March, 1994, pp. 60 & 64)

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     So there we have the answer to Pastor Mike Gray's complaint. The knife he feels we are stabbing into his back is the same one the Lord is placing in our own. The only difference is that our condemnation is the greater for we have been given so much more, which in turn, is but a fraction of what the Lord has in store for the children of Zion when their restrictions are no longer in place.


     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zionCOME PARTAKE OF THE
FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE


     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     Meanwhile, let us remember that Christ's miraculous call is to everyone, member and non-member alike, to come to the father in faith that God can and hope that he will shed his perfect love into our hearts while being meek and lowly in heart. How do we do all of that? By obeying his commandment to be thankful for all things, which really means ALL THINGS, not just the good things. This includes those weaknesses he has blessed us with, along with difficult circumstances. When we are thankful for every bit of our life, exactly the way it is, including the negative way we feel about things from time to time, we are being truly meek and lowly, stripped of pride, willing to listen to the voice of the good shepherd. It is then we can follow the advice that Alma gave to the lackadaisical members of the church in his day, when he said:

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren [and sisters] of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?...
     Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God...
Yea, he saith: Come unto me and YE SHALL PARTAKE OF THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely [both of which symbolize the pure love of God, I Nephi 11:25      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion]. Yea come unto me and bring forth the works of righteousness [perfect love].

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     So Christ, our good shepherd calls for us to come to him and partake of his greatest gift, the fruit of the tree of life and fountain of living waters, never to hunger or thirst again. The call is an individual call. None of us need wait for any other member of the church or the church as a whole. Let's remember that each of us, individually, has already made a covenant to partake. In the temple we are reminded that if we do not keep our covenant to obey every commandment, then we will be under Satan's power. Let's also remember, perfectly obeying all the commandments of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the preparatory gospel, is not possible. Actually, as I wrote in Book I, Looking Beyond the Mark, the temporal and spiritual law is designed to cut us off, since by the law no flesh is justified. (2 Nephi 2:5)      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion
     Then where is our hope in Christ? It is by accepting the Savior's call to come to him and partake of the other tree, the tree of life, where there is only one commandment, a commandment which fulfills the law. That one commandment is to love¾      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength, to love ourselves as the handiwork of God, and to love our neighbor in the same way. Without receiving Christ's greatest gift, that commandment is not fulfillable by the natural man until he YIELDS with a broken heart. So Alma gave his luke-warm members both a powerful invitation and a warning:

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zionO ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the world, ye that have PROFESSED to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will not hearken unto his voice!...
And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold, I say unto you that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this?
Behold, I ask unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar and a child of the devil. (Alma 5:37-39)

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zionOR YOU WILL BE IN MY POWER!

     president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion     Is that not exactly what the saints are assured in the sacred endowment if they do not keep their covenant to keep each and every commandment to the letter? What does it mean to be under the power of Satan? What is Satan's victory over the saints? All the devil needs us to do is continue to submit to his first and greatest victory, to keep eating off of the forbidden tree of knowledge, being judgmentally proud in our unique claim on what is good and evil.
     So Pastor Gray, evidently Joseph Smith got the message right. All of us are living far below the promises the Father is offering us in his new covenant of perfection in the love of Christ. It is always difficult for the religiously wise to accept their blindness because they feel good about their level of obedience and know they are truly blessed by God. And so they are. But when one is finally blessed with the mind of Christ, then the fact that darkness and sin covers the earth is no more a great tragedy but exactly what was intended when mankind was set up to participate in the fall. It is by tasting the bitter that we will be able to comprehend the sweet. God's hand truly does move in ALL THINGS. (D&C 59:21)      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion



TO KNOW THE LOVE OF CHRIST,
WHICH PASSETH KNOWLEDGE,
THAT YE MIGHT BE FILLED
WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD.      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion
(Ephesians 23:19)      president ezra taft benson, in his first six conferences, stressed that the lord had revealed to him that we could now come out from under the condemnation, scourge and judgment, and if we did, each child of zion