Answer
& Covenant
Answer
to Prayer for Covenant,
received by Denver Snuffer Jr., 14 July 2017.
I,
the Lord, say to you: You have asked of me concerning the scriptures
prepared on behalf of all those who seek to become my covenant
people, and therefore I answer you on behalf of all the people, and
not as to any individual. For there are those who are humble,
patient, and easily persuaded. Nevertheless, people who are
quarrelsome and proud are also among you, and since you seek to unite
to become one people, I answer you as one.
I
covenanted with Adam at the beginning, which covenant was broken by
mankind. Since the days of Adam I have always sought to reestablish
people of covenant among the living, and therefore have desired that
man should love one another, not begrudgingly, but as brothers and
sisters indeed, that I may establish my covenant and provide them
with light and truth.
For
you to unite I must admonish and instruct you, for my will is to have
you love one another. As people, you lack the ability to respectfully
disagree among one another. You are as Paul and Peter, whose
disagreements resulted in jarring and sharp contentions.
Nevertheless, they both loved me and I loved them. You must do
better.
I
commend your diligent labor, and your desire to repent and recover
the scriptures containing the covenant I offer for the last days. For
this purpose I caused the Book of Mormon to come forth. I commend
those who have participated, as well as those who have offered words
of caution, for I weigh the hearts of men and many have intended
well, although they have spoken poorly. Wisdom counsels mankind to
align their words with their hearts, but mankind refuses to take
counsel from Wisdom.
Nevertheless,
there have been sharp disputes between you that should have been
avoided. I speak these words to reprove you that you may learn, not
to upbraid you so that you mourn. I want my people to have
understanding.
There
is great reason to rejoice because of the work that has been done.
There is little reason for any to be angry or to harshly criticize
the labor to recover the scriptures, and so my answer to you
concerning the scriptures is to guide you in other work to be done
hereafter; for recovering the scriptures does not conclude the work
to be accomplished by those who will be my people: it is but a
beginning.
In
your language you use the name Lucifer for an angel who was in
authority before God, who rebelled, fought against the work of the
Father and was cast down to the earth. His name means holder of
light, or light bearer, for he had gathered light by his heed and
diligence before he rebelled. He has become a vessel containing only
wrath and seeks to destroy all who will hearken to him. He is now
enslaved to his own hatred.
Satan
is a title and means accuser, opponent, and adversary; hence, once he
fell, Lucifer became, or in other words was called, Satan, because he
accuses others and opposes the Father. I rebuked Peter and called him
Satan because he was wrong in opposing the Father’s will for me,
and Peter understood and repented.
In
the work you have performed there are those who have been Satan,
accusing one another, wounding hearts, and causing jarring,
contention, and strife by their accusations. Rather than loving one
another, even among you who desire a good thing, some have dealt
unkindly as if they were the opponents, accusers, and adversaries. In
this they were wrong.
You
have sought to recover the scriptures because you hope to obtain the
covenant for my protective hand to be over you, but you cannot be
Satan and be mine. If you take upon you my covenant, you must abide
it as a people to gain what I promise. You think Satan will be bound
a thousand years, and it will be so, but do not understand your own
duty to bind that spirit within you so that you give no heed to
accuse others. It is not enough to say you love God; you must also
love your fellow man. Nor is it enough to say you love your fellow
man while you, as Satan, divide, contend, and dispute against any
person who labors on an errand seeking to do my will. How you proceed
must be as noble as the cause you seek. You have become your own
adversaries, and you cannot be Satan and also be mine. Repent,
therefore, like Peter and end your unkind and untrue accusations
against one another, and make peace. How shall there ever come a
thousand years of peace if the people who are mine do not love one
another? How shall Satan be bound if there are no people of one heart
and one mind?
Therefore,
in answer to your petition:
The
records you have gathered as scriptures yet lack many of my words,
have errors throughout, and contain things that are not of me,
because the records you used in your labors have not been maintained
nor guarded against the cunning plans of false brethren who have been
deceived by Satan.
The
records of the Old Covenants, given from Adam until Moses and from
Moses to my forerunner John, were written in holiness and contained
light and truth, but the records you have received have not
transmitted that which was first written in holiness, nor are they as
many as the records on the plates of brass; and the plates of brass
also do not contain all my words. Nevertheless, the records in the
form you have of the Old Covenants, given from Adam until Moses and
from Moses to John, are of great worth and can serve my purposes, and
are acceptable for this time.
The
records of my apostles containing my New Covenants were to contain
the fullness of my gospel, but during the formation of the great and
abominable church, many parts were discarded and other parts were
altered. False brethren who did not fear me intended to corrupt and
to pervert the right way, to blind the eyes and harden the hearts of
others, in order to obtain power and authority over them.
Conspiracies
have corrupted the records, beginning among the Jews, and again
following the time of my apostles, and yet again following the time
of Joseph and Hyrum. As you have labored with the records you have
witnessed the alterations and insertions, and your effort to recover
them pleases me and is of great worth. You may remove the brackets
from your record, as I accept your clarifications, and you are
permitted to proceed to the end with your plan to update language to
select a current vocabulary, but take care not to change meaning —
and if you cannot resolve the meaning, either petition me again or
retain the former words. Nevertheless, you labor with an incomplete
text.
I
desire to heal you from an awful state of blindness so that you may
see clearly my will, to do it. I promised to bring unto you much of
my gospel through [the Covenant of Christ] and to provide you with
the means to obtain a fullness of my gospel, and I have done this;
yet you refuse to receive the truth, even when it is given unto you
in plainness. How can you who pursue the truth yet remain unable to
behold your own weakness before me?
Unto
what can I liken it, that you may understand? For you are like a man
who seeks for good fruit from a neglected vineyard — unwatered,
undunged, unpruned, and unattended. How shall it produce good fruit
if you fail to tend it? What reward does the unfaithful husbandman
obtain from his neglected vineyard? How can saying you are a faithful
husbandman ever produce good fruit in the vineyard without doing the
work of the husbandman? For you seek my words to recover them even as
you forsake to do them. You have heretofore produced wild fruit,
bitter and ill-formed, because you neglect to do my words.
I
speak of you who have hindered my work, that claim to see plainly the
beams in others’ eyes. You have claimed to see plainly the error of
those who abuse my words, and neglect the poor, and who have cast you
out — to discern their errors, and you say you seek a better way.
Yet among you are those who continue to scheme, backbite, contend,
accuse, and forsake my words to do them, even while you seek to
recover them. Can you not see that your works fall short of the
beliefs you profess?
For
the sake of the promises to the fathers will I labor with you as a
people, and not because of you, for you have not yet become what you
must be to live together in peace. If you will hearken to my words, I
will make you my people and my words will give you peace. Even a
single soul who stirs up the hearts of others to anger can destroy
the peace of all my people. Each of you must equally walk truly in my
path, not only to profess, but to do as you profess.
The
Book of Mormon was given as my covenant for this day and contains my
gospel, which came forth to allow people to understand my work and
then obtain my salvation. Yet many of you are like those who reject
the Book of Mormon, because you say, but you do not do. As a people
you honor with your lips, but your hearts are corrupt, filled with
envy and malice, returning evil for good, sparing none — even those
with pure hearts among you — from your unjustified accusations and
unkind backbiting. You have not obtained the fullness of my salvation
because you do not draw near to me.
The
Book of Mormmon is to convince the gentiles, and a remnant of Lehi,
and the Jews, of the truth of the words of my ancient prophets and
apostles, with all the records agreeing that I am the Lamb of God,
the Son of the Father, and I was sent into the world to do the will
of the Father, and I am the Savior of the world. All must come unto
me or they cannot be saved. And how do men come unto me? It is by
faith, repentance, and baptism, which bring the holy ghost, to then
show you all things you must know.
If
the gentiles, unto whom the Book of Mormon was given, had hearkened
unto the holy ghost, they would have come unto me in Hyrum and
Joseph's day. But they did not hearken, and would not allow me to
abide with them in word, and in power, and in very deed.
Hear
therefore my words: Repent and bring forth fruit showing repentance,
and I will establish my covenant with you and claim you as mine.
I
instruct my people to add to their records the following writings:
You
have eliminated the account of the revelation of April 3, 1836.
Therefore add the following account to your record:
On
the third day of April 1836, Joseph and Oliver were in the temple in
Kirtland, Ohio. The veil was taken from their minds and the eyes of
their understanding were opened. They saw the Lord in his glory
standing above them and the breastwork of the pulpit; and under his
feet appeared as it were a paved work of pure gold, in color like
amber. His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was
white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness
of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great
waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
I
am the Alpha and the Omega; I am he who was slain, I am he who lives;
I am your advocate with the Father.
Behold,
your sins are forgiven you; you are clean before me, therefore, lift
up your heads and rejoice. Let the hearts of your brethren also
rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with
their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted
this house and my name shall be here, and I will manifest myself to
my people in mercy in this house. Yea, I will appear unto my
servants, and speak unto them with mine own voice, if my people will
keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house.
Behold
and see: The hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly
rejoice in consequence of the blessings that shall be poured out and
the endowment with which my servants will be endowed in this house.
Behold, the fame of this house shall spread to foreign lands; and
this is the beginning of the blessings I shall pour out upon my
people. Even so. Amen.
As
this vision closed, the Heavens were again opened to their view, and
they saw and beheld, and were endowed with knowledge from the
beginning of this creation to the ends thereof. And they were shown
unspeakable things from the sealed record of Heaven, which man is not
capable of making known, but must be revealed by the Powers of
Heaven.
They
beheld Michael, the archangel, Gabriel, and Raphael, and divers
angels, from Michael or Adam down to the end of time, showing in
turns their dispensations, their rights, their keys, their honors,
their majesty and glory, and the Powers of their Priesthood; giving
line upon line, precept upon precept; endowing them with knowledge,
even here a little and there a little; holding forth hope for the
work God was yet to perform, even the revelation of all things which
are to come upon the earth until the return of the Lord in glory with
His holy angels — to pour out judgment upon the world, and to
reward the righteous.
And
they were unable to take it in; therefore, they were commanded to
pray and ask to comprehend by the power of the spirit, to bring all
things to their remembrance, even the Record of Heaven which would
abide in them. Amen and Amen.
You
have removed an altered document taken from an account written on
July 12, 1843, and inquired of me concerning marriage; therefore, let
my people hearken to these things and you will do well:
Marriage
was, in the beginning, between one man and one woman, and was
intended to remain so for the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve,
that they may multiply and replenish the earth. I commanded that
there shall not any man have save it be one wife, and concubines he
shall have none. I, the Lord your God, delight in the chastity of
women, and in the respect of men for their wives.
Marriage
was established at the beginning as a covenant by the word and
authority of God, between the woman and God, the man and woman, and
the man and God. It was ordained by my word to endure for ever.
Mankind fell, but a covenant established by my word cannot fail, and
therefore in death they were not to be parted.
It
was my will that all marriages would follow the pattern of the
beginning, and therefore all other marriages would be ordained as at
the first. But fallen men refused my covenant, did not hearken to my
word, nor receive my promise, and marriages fell outside my rule,
disorganized and without me, therefore unable to endure beyond the
promises made between the mortal man and the mortal woman, to end
when they are dead.
Covenants,
promises, rights, vows, associations, and expectations that are mine
will endure, and those that are not cannot endure. Everything in the
world, whether it is established by men, or by Thrones, or by
Dominions, or by Principalities, or by Powers, that are not by my
word and promise, shall be thrown down when men are dead and shall
not remain in my Father’s Kingdom. Only those things that are by me
shall remain in and after the resurrection.
Marriage
by me, or by my word, received as a holy covenant between the woman
and I, the man and woman, and the man and I, will endure beyond death
and into my Father’s Kingdom, worlds without end. Those who abide
this covenant will pass by the angels who are appointed, and enter
into exaltation. Concerning them it shall be said, You shall come
forth in the first resurrection, and if they covenant after the first
resurrection, then in the next resurrection, and shall inherit in my
Kingdom their own thrones, dominions, principalities, powers, all
heights and depths, and shall pass by the angels to receive
exaltation, the glory of which shall be a fullness, and a
continuation of their posterity for ever.
Marriage
is necessary for the exaltation of the man and woman and is ordained
by me through the Holy Spirit of Promise, or in other words, by my
covenant, my law, and my authority. Like the marriage in Eden,
marriage is a sacrament for a sacred place, on holy ground, in my
presence, or where the Holy Spirit of Promise can minister. But
rebellion has kept mankind from inheriting what I ordained in the
beginning, and therefore women and men have been left to marry apart
from me. Every marriage established by me requires that I be part of
the covenant for it to endure, for Endless is my name and without me
the marriage cannot be without end: for so long as I endure it shall
also endure, if it is made by my word and covenant.
But
know also that I can do my work at any time, for I have sacred space
above, and can do my work despite earth and hell. The wickedness of
men has not prevented my will, but only kept the wicked from what
they might have received.
Whenever
I have people who are mine, I command them to build a house, a holy
habitation, a sacred place where my presence can dwell or where the
Holy Spirit of Promise can minister, because it is in such a place
that it has been ordained to recover you, establish by my word and my
oath your marriages, and endow my people with knowledge from on high
that will unfold to you the mysteries of godliness, instruct you in
my ways, that you may walk in my path. And all the outcasts of Israel
will I gather to my house, and the jealousy of Ephraim and Judah will
end; Ephraim will not envy Judah and Judah will not provoke Ephraim.
And
again I say to you, Abraham and Sarah sit upon a Throne, for he could
not be there if not for Sarah’s covenant with him; Isaac and
Rebecca sit upon a Throne, and Isaac likewise could not be there if
not for Rebecca’s covenant with him; and Jacob and Rachel sit upon
a Throne, and Jacob could not be there if not for Rachel’s covenant
with him; and all these have ascended above Dominions and
Principalities and Powers, to abide in my Kingdom.
Therefore
the marriage covenant is needed for all those who would likewise seek
to obtain from me the right to continue their seed into eternity, for
only through marriage can Thrones and Kingdoms be established.
I,
the Lord, say to you, with these additions, what you have gathered as
scriptures are acceptable to me for this time and contain many plain
and precious things. Nevertheless, whoso is enlightened by the spirit
shall obtain the greater benefit, because you need not think they
contain all my words nor that more will not be given, for there are
many things yet to be restored unto my people. It is ordained that
some things are only to be given to people who are mine and cannot
otherwise be given to mankind on earth. You do not yet understand the
glory to be revealed unto my covenant people.
And
now I will accept what you have produced and you need not labor
further to recover my words, but to complete your labors as you have
agreed. You have inquired about the details, including punctuation,
and what I say unto one I say unto all: I have given to you my
doctrine, and have also revealed teachings, commandments, precepts,
and principles to guide you, and it is not meet that I command you in
all things — reason together and apply what I have given you, and
it will be enough.
The
Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, and the
language given to precious was precious. There were things of beauty
in language I revealed to Joseph that have been lost. Your work has
been aided by the labor of Royal Skousen, whose diligence has pleased
me. When the sealed portion of the Book of Mormon is brought forth,
then will you know and understand how great things were lost to you.
There
will yet be records restored from all the tribes, that will be
gathered again into one, and also as I have said, there is some truth
in the Apocrypha, including the Pseudepigrapha and scrolls recovered
at Nag Hammadi, and other New Testament texts uncovered since the
time of Joseph Smith, and findings at Qumran, and there are other
records yet to be recovered; and whoso is enlightened by the spirit
shall obtain benefit by their careful study.
It
is not enough to receive my covenant, but you must also abide it. And
all who abide it, whether on this land or any other land, will be
mine, and I will watch over them and protect them in the day of
harvest, and gather them in as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings. I will number you among the remnant of Jacob, no longer
outcasts, and you will inherit the promises of Israel. You shall be
my people and I will be your God, and the sword will not devour you.
And unto those who will receive will more be given, until they know
the mysteries of God in full.
But
remember that without the fruit of repentance, and a broken heart and
a contrite spirit, you cannot keep my covenant; for I, your Lord, am
meek and lowly of heart. Be like me. You have all been wounded, your
hearts pierced through with sorrows because of how the world has
treated you. But you have also scarred one another by your unkind
treatment of each other, and you do not notice your misconduct toward
others because you think yourself justified in this. You bear the
scars on your countenances, from the soles of your feet to the head,
and every heart is faint. Your visages have been so marred that your
hardness, mistrust, suspicions, resentments, fear, jealousies, and
anger toward your fellow man bear outward witness of your inner self;
you cannot hide it. When I appear to you, instead of confidence, you
feel shame. You fear and withdraw from me because you bear the blood
and sins of your treatment of brothers and sisters. Come to me and I
will make sins as scarlet become white as snow, and I will make you
stand boldly before me, confident of my love.
I
descended below it all, and know the sorrows of you all, and have
borne the grief of it all, and I say to you, Forgive one another. Be
tender with one another, pursue judgment, bless the oppressed, care
for the orphan, and uplift the widow in her need, for I have redeemed
you from being orphaned and taken you that you are no longer a
widowed people. Rejoice in me, and rejoice with your brethren and
sisters who are mine also. Be one.
You
pray each time you partake of the sacrament to always have my spirit
to be with you. And what is my spirit? It is to love one another as I
have loved you. Do my works and you will know my doctrine, for you
will uncover hidden mysteries by obedience to these things that can
be uncovered in no other way. This is the way I will restore
knowledge to my people. If you return good for evil, you will cleanse
yourself and know the joy of your Master. You call me Lord, and do
well to regard me so, but to know your Lord is to love one another.
Flee from the cares and longings that belong to Babylon, obtain a new
heart, for you have all been wounded. In me you will find peace, and
through me will come Zion, a place of peace and safety.
There
are only two ways: the way I lead, that goes upward in light and
truth unto Eternal lives — and if you turn from it, you follow the
way of darkness and the deaths. Those who want to come where I am
must be able to abide the conditions established for my Father’s
Kingdom. I have given to you the means to understand the conditions
you must abide. I came and lived in the world to be the light of the
world. I have sent others who have testified of me and taught you. I
have sent my light into the world. Let not your hearts remain divided
from one another and divided from me.
Be
of one heart, and regard one another with charity. Measure your words
before giving voice to them, and consider the hearts of others.
Although a man may err in understanding concerning many things, yet
he can view his brother with charity and come unto me, and through me
he can with patience overcome the world. I can bring him to
understanding and knowledge. Therefore, if you regard one another
with charity, then your brother’s error in understanding will not
divide you. I lead to all truth. I will lead all who come to me to
the truth of all things. The fullness is to receive the truth of all
things, and this too from me, in power, by my word, and in very deed.
For I will come unto you if you will come unto me.
Study
to learn how to respect your brothers and sisters and to come
together by precept, reason, and persuasion, rather than sharply
disputing and wrongly condemning each other, causing anger. Take care
how you invoke my name. Mankind has been controlled by the adversary
through anger and jealousy, which has led to bloodshed and the misery
of many souls. Even strong disagreements should not provoke anger,
nor to invoke my name in vain as if I had part in your every dispute.
Pray together in humility and together meekly present your dispute to
me, and if you are contrite before me, I will tell you my part.
You
are not excused from writing a statement of principles that I have
required at your hands. I forbade my servant David from
participating, and again forbid him. But I require a statement of
principles to be adopted by the mutual agreement of my people, for if
you cannot do so, you will be unable to accomplish other works that I
will require at your hands. When you have an agreed statement of
principles, I require it to also be added as a guide and standard for
my people to follow. Remember there are others who know nothing, as
yet, of my work now underway, and therefore the guide and standard is
to bless, benefit, and inform them — so I command you to be wise in
word and kind in deed as you write what I require of you.
Do
not murmur, saying, Too much has been required at our hands in too
short a time. If your hearts were right, it was a light thing I have
asked. You hinder and delay and then you say I require too much of
you and do not allow you time, when, if your hearts were right and
you prepared yourselves, you could have finished this work long ago.
Do you indeed desire to be my people? Then accept and do as I have
required.
And,
again, the husband is to hold priesthood to baptize and bless the
sacrament of bread and wine in the home, and the husband and wife are
to bless their children together. For the husband to use authority to
administer outward ordinances outside his own family, his wife must
sustain him. I have told you that to remove authority to use
priesthood outside a man’s family requires a unanimous decision by
twelve women. A council of twelve women must be convened, either in
the man’s home fellowship among those who are acquainted with his
daily walk, or in private at a general conference, also including
among the twelve women from the conference those who are acquainted
with his daily walk, so that no injustice results. Reinstatement of
the man’s authority must be considered by the same council of
twelve women when the man petitions for the decision to be rescinded,
and requires seven of the twelve to agree upon his reinstatement,
which can occur at any time. During the period of suspension, nothing
affects the man’s duties and responsibility in his own family.
There
remains great work yet to be done. Receive my covenant and abide in
it, not as in the former time when jarring, jealousy, contention, and
backbiting caused anger, broke hearts, and hardened the souls of
those claiming to be my saints. But receive it in spirit, in
meekness, and in truth. I have given you a former commandment that I,
the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required
to forgive all men. And again, I have taught that if you forgive men
their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if
you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Heavenly
Father forgive your trespasses. How do I act toward mankind? If men
intend no offense, I take no offense, but if they are taught and
should have obeyed, then I reprove and correct, and forgive and
forget. You cannot be at peace with one another if you take offense
when none is intended. But again I say, Judge not others except by
the rule you want used to weigh yourself.
I
will give to you words to speak to the people to accept my covenant,
and you shall read those words to them. Read first to the people
these words I now speak, and then read the words of the covenant, and
the people who will receive and do my words and my covenant shall
then stand and say, Yes.
Then
by my law and my word they will be mine, and I will be with and lead
my people onward through the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, the
Record of Heaven, the peaceable things of immortal glory, even the
holy ghost which will abide with them, and you will be children of
the Most High God, fellow servants and numbered with the congregation
of the just. Therefore rejoice!
And
the angels are given charge to watch over and protect my people.
My
eyes are over the whole earth and all men everywhere are before me.
Men conspire to overthrow and oppress, and use violence to control
others through fear. My spirit restrains the destroyer, to allow
those who are in the world and willing to give heed to my words time
to prepare, but I will not always suffer with the wickedness of man.
The
earth groans under the wickedness of mankind upon her face, and she
longs for peace to come. She withholds the abundance of her bounty
because of the offenses of men against me, against one another, and
against her. But if righteousness returns and my people prove by
their actions, words, and thoughts to yield to my spirit and hearken
to my commandments, then will the earth rejoice, for the feet of
those who cry peace upon her mountains are beautiful indeed, and I,
the Lord, will bring again Zion, and the earth will rejoice.
In
the world, tares are ripening. And so I ask you, What of the wheat?
Let your pride, and your envy, and your fears depart from you. I will
come to my tabernacle and dwell with my people in Zion, and none will
overtake it.
Cry
peace. Proclaim my words. Invite those who will repent to be baptized
and forgiven, and they shall obtain my spirit to guide them. The time
is short and I come quickly, therefore open your mouths and warn
others to flee the wrath which is to come as men in anger destroy one
another. The wicked shall destroy the wicked, and I will hold the
peacemakers in the palm of my hand and none can take them from me.
Be
comforted, be of good cheer, rejoice, and look up, for I am with you
who remember me, and all those who watch for me, always, even unto
the end. Amen.
The
Covenant
This
is the Covenant
Ordinance offered by the
Lord to all who will receive it. Received by Denver Snuffer Jr., July
2017, and presented for the first time in Boise, Idaho, 3 September
2017, at a Covenant of Christ conference.
Note:
This covenant can be received at any time, in any place, by any
person who has accepted the Doctrine of Christ. Either an authorized
priesthood holder who has previously received The Covenant can
administer it, or the recording from the Boise Covenant of Christ
Conference can be used. The believer receiving The Covenant may first
want to review the words of the Prayer for Covenant before receiving
The Covenant. Receiving The Covenant involves having read to them the
Answer to Prayer for Covenant, following which they have read to them
The Covenant, and then comply with the directions contained therein,
answering, Yes, out loud at the appropriate moment.
There
are four questions I will read. Please remain seated until the four
questions have all been read. If, after you hear all four questions,
you can answer, Yes, to all four, then you will be asked to stand and
say, Yes, to accept:
First:
Do you believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you
this day, and know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has condescended to provide them to you, and do you covenant with
Him to cease to do evil and to seek to continually do good?
Second:
Do you have faith in these things and receive the scriptures approved
by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life,
to accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a
covenant, and to use the scriptures to correct yourselves and to
guide your words, thoughts, and deeds?
Third:
Do you agree to assist all others — who covenant to likewise accept
this standard to govern their lives — to keep the Lord’s will, to
succor those who stand in need, to lighten the burdens of your
brothers and sisters whenever you are able, and to help care for the
poor among you?
Fourth:
And do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who
seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?
If
you agree, please stand wherever you are located, either here or in a
remote location, to be recognized and numbered by God and His angels.
All
those standing please confirm you are willing to accept this covenant
by saying, Yes.
Please
be seated.
Now,
hear the words of the Lord to those who receive this covenant this
day:
All
you who have turned from your wicked ways and repented of your evil
doings, of lying and deceiving, and of all whoredoms, and of secret
abominations, idolatries, murders, priestcrafts, envying, and strife,
and from all wickedness and abominations, and have come unto me, and
been baptized in my name, and have received a remission of your sins,
and received the holy ghost, are now numbered with my people who are
of the house of Israel. I say to you:
Teach
your children to honor me. Seek to recover the lost sheep remnant of
this land and of Israel and no longer forsake them. Bring them unto
me and teach them of my ways, to walk in them.
And
I, the Lord your God, will be with you and will never forsake you,
and I will lead you in the path which will bring peace to you in the
troubling season now fast approaching.
I
will raise you up and protect you, abide with you, and gather you in
due time, and this shall be a land of promise to you as your
inheritance from me.
The
earth will yield its increase, and you will flourish upon the
mountains and upon the hills, and the wicked will not come against
you because the fear of the Lord will be with you.
I
will visit my house, which the remnant of my people shall build, and
I will dwell therein, to be among you, and no one will need to say,
Know ye the Lord, for you all shall know me, from the least to the
greatest.
I
will teach you things that have been hidden from the foundation of
the world and your understanding will reach unto Heaven.
And
you shall be called the children of the Most High God, and I will
preserve you against the harvest.
And
the angels sent to harvest the world will gather the wicked into
bundles to be burned, but will pass over you as my peculiar treasure.
But
if you do not honor me, nor seek to recover my people Israel, nor
teach your children to honor me, nor care for the poor among you, nor
help lighten one another’s burdens, then you have no promise from
me and I will raise up other people who will honor and serve me, and
give unto them this land, and if they repent, I will abide with them.
The
time is now far spent, therefore labor with me and do not forsake my
covenant to perform it; study my words and let them be the standard
for your faith, and I will add thereto many treasures. Love one
another and you will be mine, and I will preserve you, and raise you
up, and abide with you for ever. Amen.
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