Returning to the Fulness (Part 1)

     The following posts are going to come as a shock to most.  I promise, I am not looking for the shock factor.  I am a member and attend services at the LDS church.  I have my whole life.  I have given and sacrificed under the guise that as long as I serve, am baptized, receive the holy ghost, receive my endowments, get married in the temple and endure to the end that I will inherit the Celestial Kingdom.  This is a farce and anyone that tells you otherwise, is either misled themselves or has the intention to mislead.  In this and  future posts, I intend to show why we cannot be satisfied with this understanding. The scriptures along with teachings from Joseph Smith, and Lectures on Faith, help to increase our understanding as to what the true plan of happiness is.  This church was given to the gentiles. This is a gentile church. We are to be nursing fathers and mothers to the remnant(2 Nephi 5-7) 3 Nephi 16:10  10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.  The gentiles will reject the fullness of the Gospel.  What is the fulness of the gospel?  What are the Gentiles rejecting?  We as a church have had the fulness of the gospel, through Joseph Smith.  We have cast away many of the beautiful things he taught and gave through the power of God.  He taught the fulness of the gospel, which was to go forth to the remnant of Israel.  We have abandoned this goal, we have abandoned the remnant, we have abandoned the teachings of God. 3 Nephi 16:13-14 13 But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.

 14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.  Let us learn what the fulness of the gospel is.  It has been taught through Joseph and it has been taught through the scriptures.  This is the message that God has for me to share and I pray that as I write, His spirit will be with me, that I may speak with the tongue of angels and that the spirit will manifest the truth of it unto all who read this.  We must go back to the basic doctrine of Christ.  Get rid of the traditions of men that are mingled with these teachings, if we are to bring it forth in its purity to the remnant. 

     I start with baptism and the receiving of the Holy Ghost.  This doctrine is plain and simple. 2 Nephi 31:2-5  2 Wherefore, the things which I have written sufficeth me, save it be a few words which I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ; wherefore, I shall speak unto you plainly, according to the plainness of my prophesying.

3 For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding.

4 Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.

5 And now, if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to be baptized, yea, even by water!  
Baptism is the first step in coming unto Christ, but it is not complete until we receive the Holy Ghost and the baptism of Fire. 2 Nephi 31:11-14  11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son. 12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

 13 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.

 14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me. 

Notice in verse 12 Christ is telling Nephi that the Father will give the Holy Ghost.  In the church we are led to believe that we must have priesthood holders, place their hands on our heads and say "Receive the Holy Ghost."  This is false. Our Father in Heaven has blessed us to receive this if we are righteous and follow our Savior Jesus Christ. Christ received it without the laying on of hands, and so can we. For some it happens right after baptism, like with Christ, for others it takes time maybe even years.  2 Nephi 31:17-18 17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.  If we have not received the baptism of fire, we still have yet to be on the path.  We need to ask ourselves,  "Can I speak with the tongue of angels?"  If we have not received the Holy Ghost as our constant companion and cannot  speak with the tongue of angels we have not received a remission of our sins. The teachings of the church do a disservice to us as we continually seek to come to Christ. Mormon 9:23-25 23 And he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned;  24 And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover;
25 And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.  Isn't this beautiful? The promises we receive for entering in by the way are great and beautiful. We are being held back from this, because in our Sunday lessons concerning baptism and the holy ghost, we are not taught any of these things. We are so far removed from just the plain doctrine of Christ that it is difficult for us to overcome unless through a miracle we are taught and led by God to see and open our eyes and our hearts.   2 Nephi 32:5-6 5 For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do.
6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

    I love the gospel, I love truth.  I have experienced and learned so much in the last few years that I cannot negate the power of God in my life. It is beautiful to learn that there is so much more and what our Father in Heaven wants us to receive, which is, all that he has.  John 17