When is a Prophet Actually… a Prophet?

[@537537]

I’ve been noticing that for years church leaders have been preaching the doctrines of “medical experts” (philosophies of man) with as much fervor as eternally significant doctrines. I don’t understand why they’ve carved out a special place for that arm-of-flesh. It runs counter to so many scriptures: Nephi . . . I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. (2 Nephi 4:34) Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. (2 Nephi 28:31) Jeremiah Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:5) Peter Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (Acts 5:29) Jesus Christ The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh-(D&C 1:19) Psalms Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. (Psalms 146:3) It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. (Psalms 118:8) Proverbs The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. (Proverbs 29:25) Joseph Smith “I preached to a large congregation at the stand, on the science and practice of medicine, and desiring to persuade the saints to trust in God when sick, and not in an arm of flesh, and live by faith and not by medicine, or poison; and when they were sick, and had called for the Elders to pray for them, and they were not healed, to use herbs and mild food.” (The Teachings of Joseph Smith, p. 28)

[@lucilleashcroft8018]

Everything needs to be subjected to confirmation by the Spirit

[@kahina937]

You made a lot of good points. I pretty much have a similar approach when it comes to prophetic council. However, we also had a talk in the General Conference when they taught us that whatever personal revelation we receive it must be aligned with what the church teaches and if it is not, that revelation is not from God. But then, like you said, church fight on medical cannabis wasn't necessarily from God but we are raised in that mentality that we have to align ourselves with whatever our leaders say. I agree that it is a wrong approach, I myself seek for truth and evaluate teachings of the church to obtain a testimony. However, it would be nice if leaders were not scared to look vulnerable sometimes and suggest an idea to the members that they need to seek truth for themselves rather than this constant message to follow everything leaders teach. Because it seems like we are scolded if we dare to disagree, then later they realize it was just an opinion, like in the case with a priesthood ban, and then we are told oh, by the way, leaders are people too and can make mistakes. Well, maybe if we remembered about our human nature all the time, we could have avoided some mistakes in the past or at least resolve them sooner.

[@kevinkirk4434]

I've listened to this musing a couple of times now. Sharing it around when it seems appropriate with friends and family. Thanks 🙏

[@morjulies]

Breaks my heart that a so many people conformed and then have sent away those that would not conform. My boys could not pass the sacrament for OVER A YEAR because we could not violate our conscience and wear those things. We are so far from a zion people!!! Weeping here to remember how things played out in the church culture. 😭 My faith is strong but my relationship with the church is changed forever. Jesus is my rock... And my trust in the arm of the flesh is greatly downgraded.

[@beoneB1]

I taught my children to sing “🎶Follow the SAVIOR, HE is the Way”.

[@elchilero7091]

Thank you so much for this presentation. You nailed it 100%.

[@c.douglass8170]

thanks for posting since I can't listen live

[@orenlewis8679]

I found it interesting that the letter to get the COVID-19 jab was read the same day we studied the Word of Wisdom......very different documents on health.

[@wowmerica]

29:10 I know for me I absolutely hated the masks but I wore it because I believed I needed to do that to sustain our local leaders. I was not wearing it to try to prove how righteous I was. I believe many fell into that camp. If I were to go back knowing what I know now, I NEVER would have worn a mask to church.

[@josephaney]

I agree with so much of what you are saying. but let me answer the question, "When is a prophet actually a prophet.? Revelation 19:10. A prophet is one who has the spirit of Prophecy which is the testimony of Jesus. When Peter declared that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, he was prophesying. Jesus said that flesh and blood did not reveal the fact to Peter who he was but that the Father revealed that to him and upon that rock, the testimony of Jesus, Jesus would build his church, in other words, those who had that testimony were founded on him. Joseph Smith spoke of levels of prophecy when he spoke about the first and second comforters. The first level of prophecy is when one knows but the revelation from the father that Jesus is his son. The second level is when one has repented of his sins and received a forgiveness of his sins and is born again and receives the first comfort of by the Holy Ghost that he has been saved from his sins and that captivity of the devil. When one is telling of his experience of having been born again he is prophesying. After having been born again, if the person begins to have relationship with Jesus and begins to put into practice the commandments and sayings of Jesus to fulfill the covenants of the priesthood and passes all the trials of Sanctification and is cleansed, purified and sanctified by the Holy Spirit and Jesus comes to him and declares to him that hi calling and election is sure and gives him the promise of the Celestial kingdom, the more sure word of prophecy, and bears testimony of that fact, he is prophesying. Being a prophet is not a calling. It is a state of being. One either has a testimony of Jesus or he does not. When he is bearing testimony of Jesus, he is a prophet of God, regardless of whatever else he is doing in his life. A more appropriate question would be is to how to detect a false prophet. It is possible that a false prophet will say they believe in Jesus and not be a prophet, as the saying goes, even the demons know who Jesus is, but one thing if for certain, demons do not bear testimony of being born again or ever having been forgiven of sin. There are, however, three outwards signs of false prophet that everybody can see. I. Idolatry. false prophet always come with idols. 2. Wealth and power. False prophets have great wealth and power and accuse the poor of being false prophets. 3. Sheep's clothing, the uniform of the believer. Sheep's clothing is wool. Beware of men who come to you in their fine wool suits and robes who put on the appearance of righteousness, who are pretenders an deceivers, but inwardly are wolves who are only interested in money and exercising unrighteous dominion over you. Anybody who comes to you and says, "Do what we say because we are God's true representatives because of our position, our wealth and power and our outward appearance and if you do not, we will discipline you." These are false prophets. It seems to me, that a lot of false prophets were exposed during the covid thing that turned out to be totally false, and leaders in churches were following the political agenda of the deep state. Are the Leaders of the LDS church true prophets. I looked them up on face book. There was not a single member of the first presidency or council of the twelve that bore testimony of Jesus to any degree, but on the other hand I saw a photo of the leaders of the church standing at the feet of that abominable statue of Lucifer in the visitor's center in SLC wearing their find wool suits and ties, showing their wealth and power. I am sorry to be the one to tell you this, but you have been tricked, fooled and deceived about them. They are not true prophets. They are part of the deep state and as you saw during covid, they pushed to deep state agenda. I know Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. At five years of age, I remembered being with them before I was born. I know that Jesus is my personal savior and that he has cleansed me, purified and sanctified me and made my calling an election sure. He lives, I have seen his face, felt his touch and heard his voice. Jesus lives, Not only has he saved me from my sin, twice, he has save my life in miraculous ways, once when I fasted fr 40 days and the other when I got run over by a 45 ton dump truck.

[@wendishipley362]

Many of us members of the Church voted in support of Prop 2 as we ourselves, or put family members have exhausted Western medicine/pharmasuetical routes.....also, Utah's cannabis laws are still so strict and wrong btw....we moved county's and still have to go back to the original county to purchase product which has been greatly inflated in price

[@dovh49]

Jeremiah 23