AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

The Law and the Testimony

Zion, June 7th, 2012

AND there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

(Old Testament | Isaiah 11:1)

THE IRON ROD

INC

Hold Tight and Press Forward
with
Faith, Hope and Charity

Praying, Scripture Searching, Obeying, Serving, Caring, Fasting, Testifying 

and  

Enduring to the End

John's Concern ~May 6^th 2012

“Over the last several years I have found myself praying less, studying the scriptures less, and fasting not at all. In years past I have considered myself a man of prayer, one who prayed often and fervently. Not so much lately. I feel like I am in a precarious position, in great danger actually. I am nearing the end of my life as all of us are, but at sixty-seven years of age I am nearer than many. Does my dwindling in the matters of prayer, scripture study and fasting mean that I am failing to “endure to the end?” I would be mortified if I were to lose my exaltation after a lifetime of devotion and service. Keeping the commandments has never come easily to me. Walking the straight line has been difficult all these years. It would be a shame to fail after so many years of effort.

How can I motivate myself to the levels of prayer, scriptures study and fasting that were once such an integral part of my life, so many years ago?”

GAZELEM ANSWERS: ~June 6^th 2012

Brother, are you a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saint or a lukewarm member of the church in LA ODDYSEY which translated means, the Church of Uncertainty? In other words, you state is the same state of the ancient Saints in the Church of the LAODICEANS.

Either the fire is out or you have no oil in your lamp Old Man. With all due respect, Elder, I think you should be mortified and fear and tremble as you think you should fear for you are n grave danger. And the sooner you begin to fear and to tremble the better for your soul. Be assured that on this day the LORD that loves you will choose your fears to kindle that fire again in you.  For it is written:

I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.

(Old Testament | Isaiah 66:4)

Now before the LORD finds out what to do with you, as a brother and fellow servant, I need to warn you and forewarn you. And I want to use all the tact and love or care I can as a fellow servant to persuade you to remember again your duty to God.  I will not give you soft answers though. I will not adulate you and be condescending in the least with you as I normally would as a friend or next of kin, for I will not speak as a brother or friend but as a Priest.

In order to kindle your fire again you need to speedily repent in dust and ashes Old Man or you will be trimmed or cut off.  You already confessed that you are failing to do your prayers faithfully and so forth. That is a good start. Now finish up the process of repentance, for failure to pray with faith is a reprehensible offense before God that needs to be cleared before the Bishop or the common Judge in Israel. Remember how the brother of Jared was severely rebuked for failing to call upon the LORD.  Inevitably, if you are fearing or feeling somewhat guilty it is only because one way or another you have yielded to temptation. Without prayer we must all fall. Remember that the Nephites were commanded to pray even when the LORD was present in their midst. You need to search your soul and check where and when you begun to backslide. Now, if you find my words hard, that is good. It is my intention to pierce you with the truth. And if I do, that means that there is something worldly or unclean in you and it better be, for if not, the devil has already got a great hold of you.  Here is the law and the testimony:

Therefore let the church take heed and pray always, lest they fall into temptation;

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 20:33)

And visit the house of each member, and exhort them to pray vocally and in secret and attend to all family duties.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 20:47)

And a commandment I give unto them—that he that observeth not his prayers before the Lord in the season thereof, let him be had in remembrance before the judge of my people.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 68:33)

I thought before today that there were only two ways latter day saints can fall away, which are, as noted in D&C 93, Disobedience to the commandments and adherence to incorrect traditionalism. I think that you need to set your own house in order as the Lord even counseled his finest in that particular section. But now that I think about it, there is also a third and also a fourth way to fall away from grace.

Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God. And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers. But I have commanded you to bring up your children in light and truth.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 93:38 - 40)

The third way to fall away is by ceasing to grow up or as you said it, or failure or ceasing to persevere in good works. And persevering to the end is often the hardest trial of our faith. And if we are not careful, sooner or later the oil from our lamp sis going to be spent and the fire thereof will be put out by any wind. And the fourth and hardest way to fall away is to break and then to forsake the oath of the priesthood altogether, which forsaking altogether I very much doubt it is your case. That will not only strip you away from your exaltation, but will condemn you without forgiveness like the sons of the High Priest Eli, Ophni and Phineas.

Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

(Old Testament | 1 Samuel 2:12)

And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved. But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 84:39 - 41)

Nevertheless, I personally do not judge you or anyone for that matter, but the scriptures do. By the moment I finished reading your concern, the words of Ezekiel in Chapter 33 came speedily to my mind which testifies of your flavorless and/or lukewarm spiritual state and which say:

Therefore, thou son of man, say unto the children of thy people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression: as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from his wickedness; neither shall the righteous be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.

When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it.

Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right;  If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live.

Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.

When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby.  But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal.  O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

(Old Testament | Ezekiel 33:12 - 20)

Now, the LORD only corrects or disciplines those whom he loves. And I have no doubt in my heart that you need to repent as if you were to be taken away tomorrow. And I think I can help you kindle that fire if you allow me. The instructions are in the holy Scriptures. If you have read the scriptures, you may have skipped the nasty ones or the ones where the LORD calls his people, transgressors from the womb, treacherous, unfaithful, miserable, naked, poor and blind and so forth.  When I read them, they are not speaking about you, but about me. And when you read them, if you do, they are not speaking about me or your neighbor but about you. Now, if they touch a nerve and move you to deeper repentance, then you are in the right path, if not, then you are as stone cold as marble under the sea. That means that you need great help. Please apply all scriptures to you for they exist to correct us when we backslide such as these:

HEARKEN and hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, or out of the waters of baptism, who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, yet they swear not in truth nor in righteousness.

Nevertheless, they call themselves of the holy city, but they do not stay themselves upon the God of Israel, who is the Lord of Hosts; yea, the Lord of Hosts is his name. Behold, I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them.  I did show them suddenly. And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; And I have even from the beginning declared to thee; before it came to pass I showed them thee; and I showed them for fear lest thou shouldst say—Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image hath commanded them.

Thou hast seen and heard all this; and will ye not declare them?  And that I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning, even before the day when thou heardest them not they were declared unto thee, lest thou shouldst say—Behold I knew them. Yea, and thou heardest not; yea, thou knewest not; yea, from that time thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldst deal very treacherously, and wast called a transgressor from the womb.

(Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 20:1 - 8)

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

(New Testament | Revelation 3:14 - 22)

I hope I have not only put a little oil in your spiritual lamp, but that I have caused enough sparks to cause you kindle a fire in your heart. And if not, there is more where that came from.  I am prepared by the LORD do this all day long. For:

I AM is only doing what I AM would like others to do for him. A good gardener trims his precious trees and/or prepares the terrain for his olives to bring up the proper fruit.  Unfortunately, as the prophets and the scriptures make manifest, the ax is already laid at the base of every three. And every tree that does not bring forth fruit meet for repentance will he hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence no traveler ever returns.

And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

(New Testament | Matthew 3:9 - 12)

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do?  And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.

(New Testament | Luke 3:9 - 14)

What the LORD say unto one he says unto all.

These things I say humbly for your benefit and for the honor and glory of God. And I do it as one having authority in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Attentively, from an unworthy servant it he hands of Christ

THE IRON ROD

Scribe

Miguel Ángel Tinoco ROD-TREE-JESSE

The Good Shepard
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