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Mormon Sacrifice - Page 2

I have told the Lord that I am willing. However, my faith really is weak, and I have not yet reached a point where I can comfortably say that I receive revelation.

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I would do anything I knew the Lord was telling me to do. However, I do not believe the Lord is going to tell me to do something that goes against what the prophet says. I believe His house is a house or order. To me that means that he will direct the prophet. If the prophet doesn't listen, he will be replaced.

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Tena, the question is based on if the Prophet came and asked you this... its something Joseph Smith asked many of the Brethren in his day. He said it was a trial of their faith.

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I must have missed that. I saw many referring to giving up your membership in the Church or if your husband told you the Lord gave him a revelation personally...this doesn't appear to be asking if the Prophet came and asked me.

The answer is the same. I would do anything I knew the Lord wanted me to do. I wouldn't do it just because the Prophet personally asked me to, though that would cause me to give it serious consideration. I must say, if the prophet asked me to, and if he was still the Lord's prophet, then I have no doubt the Lord would confirm to me that this is what he wanted of me and so I would do it.

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The first message in any thread gives the subject and the trend of the discussion. From the first post: Question is... if the Prophet came today and ask for your spouse for the Church - would you give them up? I believe your mention of giving up membership refers to Nighthawk's comments, he will have to elaborate more on that, but remember in history many times this same thing was asked of men... to give up their current beliefs to follow something specific. No, I am not saying that the Lord will ask us to give up our membership in this Church, in my mind that would be contrary to the purpose of it being set-up in the first place, in fact I believe if anything the Lord will test even further just what we are willing to do for the Church.

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I guess that I should probably clarify what I meant.

I was thinking about such examples as Lehi and Abraham. Lehi was part of an established "church", with very clear leadership and priesthood structure. However, there were problems within it. Prophets, such as Jeremiah, were active in trying to prepare the people, to get them to repent. When the people wouldn't, Lehi and his family were called to sacrifice their "membership" in the community and religious organization, and head off into the wilderness.

If, as I believe, there will be a huge split within the Church, a state of absolute chaos, it will be up to each of us to discern for ourselves who we are to follow or who is the real Prophet of the Lord. It could be entirely possible in such a situation, that the real Prophet isn't the apparent "legal" successor. Therefore, it could be that we would have to "sacrifice" our membership in the "legal" structure in order to follow the Lord's will.

I can also see other scenarios wherein we might face loss of membership in order to maintain our integrity. I am reminded of the young men in Germany during WWII, who joined the underground resistance. They could not accept what was happening in their country. Since they were threatening the very existence of the struggling branches of the Church, their local leaders excommunicated them. Later, the Nazis captured and executed them.

This is real. It happened 50 years ago, and can certainly happen again. So, once again, the question that we can ask ourselves is whether or not we are even willing to sacrifice our membership, our spouse, or our children to obey the Lord. I really think that this is a possible situation that many of us will face in the not-to-distant future.

Most of us, when the real tribulations come, will take the easiest path. I don't know what the various paths will be, but the easiest ones will NOT likely be the best ones. There will be many who must give up their families, etc, based on the answers they get from the Lord. There will many other times wherein a woman who really trusts her husband will accept excommunication, or even face death because of the revelations that he receives for their family. I am sure that there will be times when wives will receive revelations for themselves such that they must leave their husbands to follow the correct path. There will be times when parents will lose their children, and children will lose their parents to the incorrect paths.

All of this, of course, leads back to my assertion that we had ALL better be ready to receive real confirmation of what the Lord's will is in all things. Rember, the deceits in the Last Days will be so powerful that even the very elect will be close to believing the lies. And the phrase, very elect does not refer to all of us, the general membership of the Church. I think it refers to those who either have had their Calling and Election Made Sure, or are very close to that goal. If such people can be deceived, the rest of us had better be working hard to gain such blessings.

So, no, I was NOT be casual in my references to such actions. Perhaps I am making it far too complicated, but these are scenarios that I can see happening, and it really concerns me that there are so few of us, including myself, who are prepared to face such situations.

Mormon Sacrifice - Page 2

I do not see a great split in the Church as impossible, but I do not think it will be a choice between some fallen prophet and a true one. The Lord has established a clear pattern of leadership for His kingdom, and His apostles will obey him or be removed. I believe the great rift may more likely come when the Lord instructs the prophet to command something very unpopular. Who knows what it will be? If President Hinckley commanded me never to eat or drink chocolate again, it would have to be a serious matter of prayer for me to gain the strength to do it. What if it was something much more significant? What if I were commanded never to use television, telephones, or computers again? What if I were commanded to leave my family and fight in physical combat? What if I were commanded to sacrifice my firstborn son? The process is the same. I need to be worthy of personal revelation, ask for confirmation and strength, and act in accordance with the promptings of the Holy Ghost on the subject.