“Do As You Have Seen Me Do” Congregant vs. Disciple Part 2

          Part 1 of “Do As You Have Seen Me Do” drew a distinction between members of the congregation and His disciples. Differences between the two is the greater detail in the Lord’s instructions to His disciples.

          His disciples were present when Jesus introduced this subject to the congregants, but the congregants were absent when Jesus instructed His disciples. This paper explores why there is variation in the depth and substance of the two accounts and why we, as Gentiles are privy to both.

          The Lord maintained two standards in His instructions. The general body were taught at levels accommodating their understanding. His disciples were taught privately with greater depth. It was not a demonstration of divine preference. The disciples demonstrated greater light and devotion to the Lord. It was a function of their heed and diligence.

          As mentioned in Part 1, greater knowledge brings greater accountability and responsibility. Providing in depth knowledge to someone ill-prepared may be a curse, rather than blessing. Not only does the Savior observe this pattern of instruction, He requires His disciples to do the same.

“Alma began to elaborate, saying: Many people are given knowledge of God’s mysteries; however, they’re placed under a strict command to only discuss that part of His word He allows to be given to mankind, corresponding to their obedience and diligence given to Him. Those who harden their hearts receive less of His word. Those who don’t harden their hearts are given a greater part of His word, until they understand God’s mysteries. They can be given God’s mysteries until everything is fully known. However those who harden their hearts are given less of His word, until they know nothing about His mysteries. Then the accuser captures them and leads them by his will down to destruction. This is what the chains of hell mean” (RE Alma 9:3, emphasis added).

Knowledge given to the uninitiated with inadequate preparation gives the Accuser opportunities to entice and enslave the ill-prepared. They are vulnerable to being led to destruction, bound in chains of ignorance and deceit. The Savior guards access to His mysteries and restricts those who receive them in their permissions to share. The Lord invites all to seek His mysteries. Their petitions trigger their timing and preparation to receive what the Lord offers. Those variables are up to the Lord’s discretion.

          The Lord refrained from explaining His admonition to congregants when He first raised the subject with the general body. It was later, when He ministered privately to His disciples. On a separate occasion following His ascension to the Father, the Lord explained the meaning of His admonition to them.

          Part 1 raised the question of why the Lord included both parts of the two accounts in the Book of Mormon and Covenant of Christ records. It was concluded that future audiences will find it instructive and essential in the last days. The Gentiles receive the record first, then bear the doctrines and scriptures to descendants of Lehi. Thereafter repentant Gentiles assist Lehi’s children in gathering Israel.[1]

          The Lord is using the text to instruct latter-day readers and empower them in advancing from congregants to becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. This process involves greater precision in following the Savior’s instruction to “Do As You Have Seen Me Do.”

“Write what you’ve seen and heard, but don’t write those things that are forbidden. Write the things the people do in the future, just as what’s happened has been written. Because this people will be judged from the books that have been written and will be written, everyone will learn about their works through them. The Father keeps a record of everything. Therefore the world will be judged from the books that will be written. And you [Nephite disciples] should understand you’ll be judges of this people [Lehi’s descendants and possibly repentant Gentiles], following the judgment I’ll [Jesus] provide to you, which will be just and true. Therefore what type of men should you be? Truly I say to you: Precisely as I Am . . .” (CofC 3 Nephi 13:1, emphasis added). 

The disciples of Jesus are directed to write what they’ve seen and heard, withholding what is forbidden to share. When Jesus began His ministry to the Nephites, He alternated between the congregation and disciples. The two conversations were separate and distinct. There are valid reasons for separating the two groups and those reasons are explored later.

          The congregants are admonished to hold the Savior up, the things He did as a light to the world. The disciples are commissioned to “Do as you have seen me do.” To be and do precisely what the Savior was and what He did. What did the Savior do?

“Now, therefore, know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Walker in the [the Father’s] Path who has proven for evermore that Father Ahman sent Him into the world to prove His Father’s path” (RE T&C 171 Testimony of Saint John 12:21, emphasis added).

The Savior’s admonishment was neither casual nor general in His expectation. They were told to walk in the Father’s Path precisely as He had done. Lecture seventh in the Lectures on Faith explains the literal nature of His admonition to Nephite disciples.

“As all the visible creation is an effect of faith, so is salvation also (we mean salvation in its most extensive latitude of interpretation, whether it is temporal or spiritual). In order to have this subject clearly set before the mind, let us ask: What situation must a person be in in order to be saved? Or what is the difference between a saved man and one who is not saved? We answer from what we have before seen of the Heavenly worlds: They must be persons who can work by faith and who are able, by faith, to be ministering spirits [angels, patriarchal Fathers, Powers of Heaven] to them who shall be heirs of salvation [righteous mortals, chosen vessels]. And they must have faith to enable them to act in the presence of the Lord, otherwise they cannot be saved. And what constitutes the real difference between a saved person and one not saved is the difference in the degree of their faith — one’s faith has become perfect enough to lay hold upon eternal life and the other’s has not. But to be a little more particular [precise], let us ask: Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? Or in other words, where shall we find a saved being? For if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved — they must be like that individual or they cannot be saved. We think that it will not be a matter of dispute that two beings who are unlike each other cannot both be saved, for whatever constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved. And if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be or else not be saved. We ask, then: Where is the prototype? Or where is the saved being? We conclude as to the answer of this question there will be no dispute among those who believe the Bible that it is Christ. All will agree in this, that he is the prototype or standard of salvation, or in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved, the answer would be, because he is a just and holy being. And if he were anything different from what he is he would not be saved, for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else. For if it were possible for him to change in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority, and glory, which constitutes salvation. For salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power, and dominion which Jehovah possesses, and in nothing else, and no being can possess it but himself or one like him. Thus says John in his first epistle, 3:2,3 [1 John 1:13]: Behold, now we are the sons of God [disciples], and it doth not appear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And any man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Why purify himself as he is pure? Because if they do not, they cannot be like him” (RE T&C 110, Lecture 7:9, emphasis added).

A congregant is admonished to hold Christ up as a light to the world. The disciple of Christ is one who follows the Savior’s example or discipline, doing whatever the Father instructs. Their submission is voluntary.

It is not submission alone but devotion. Seeking alignment with the Father’s will. The disciple follows the Savior’s admonition with exactness because the sanctification of the spirit of man makes a person’s spirit Holy, like the Father and Son. Receiving the Holy Ghost is described in Lectures on Faith as receiving the “mind of the Father.”

“ . . . And he being the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having overcome, received a fullness of the glory of the Father — possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the holy spirit that bears record of the Father and the Son [by enticing believers to follow the Father’s path as did Jesus], and these three are one, or in other words, these three constitute the great matchless, governing, and supreme power over all things, by whom all things were created and made that were created and made. And these three constitute the Godhead and are one: the Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power, and fullness, filling all in all — the Son being filled with the fullness of the mind, glory, and power, or in other words, the spirit, glory, and power of the Father — possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom: sitting at the right hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father — a mediator for man — being filled with the fullness of the mind of the Father, or in other words, the spirit of the Father, which spirit is shed forth upon all who believe on his name and keep his commandments. And all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace and become heirs of the Heavenly kingdom and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ, possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all: being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son, and holy spirit are one [disciples]” (RE T&C 110 Lectures on Faith, Lecture 5:2, emphasis added).

The Father’s kingdom comes to Him without “compulsory means,”[2] meaning His kingdom comes to Him because those in it desire to be there.

A Pharisee approached the Savior and asked,

“. . . Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first great Commandment. And the second is like unto it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (RE Matthew 10:23, emphasis added).

When a man or woman sanctify their spirits and receive the “mind of the Father” or the Holy Spirit they think as He thinks and act as He acts. They are “one”[3] with the Father and Son in all things. The man or woman who receives the mind of the Father loves God because He loved them first. His love fills the sanctified spirit with charity, or the pure love of Christ to overflowing.[4] The love of the Father pours out from the Savior’s disciples to congregants and the rising tide of charity lifts all boats.

Testing the Hypothesis

          The hypothesis is the Lord has given the two accounts to the congregation members and His disciples to instruct the Gentiles and descendants of Lehi how to transition from the first group to the second. The Gentiles receiving the Book of Mormon and Covenant of Christ are shown the process the Lord’s disciples followed. They began as congregants in the general body of believers and transformed to disciples of Christ.

          The process is not the Lord’s preferential treatment of one group over another. The process is the Lord facilitating the progression of each individual according to their heed and diligence. The opportunity is offered to all equally. How we exercise our agency and acquire faith determines the classification we are assigned to. It is contingent on our willingness to forgo our personal concerns and sacrifice for the benefit of others. Disciples of Christ give their lives as He did. In the service of others.[5]

          The way to test the assumption is to see if it aligns with the scriptures and instructions of the Lord’s servant in our day. The confirmation of the assumption is found in the servants words, directed by the Savior. Note his teachings in the most recent discourse:

“We resist instruction. We would rather fight over things that injure our pride than welcome and accept what the Lord offers. As we were told by the Lord in 2019: “I reminded you that you do not understand the glory to be revealed unto my covenant people.” (T&C 177:2.) Although I have tried to get you interested enough to cooperate with the Lord so as to allow Him to fulfill that offer to us, I acknowledge my failure. We have been overtaken by a distracting, false, and prideful spirit that hinders and delays the enormous work remaining to restore all things. We do not yet have even the possibility of building the Lord’s House. Although the Lord has provided everything necessary to accomplish that project, we do not have suitable candidates, and we lack the necessary means. We have some interest, and perhaps even a longing, but we lack the thirst and humility to acquire the skills necessary to reason together and resolve our differences amicably. If we continue on in the next few years the same as we have done for the last decade, we may gain increased understanding, yet more inspired instructions from the Lord, and be blessed by His gentle guidance. But right now, it seems unlikely to me that we will be able to reach the finish line to fulfill the prophecies, vindicate the covenants, and welcome the Lord’s return. So, I would ask us all to be more easily entreated by the Lord. To be easily persuaded, eager to respond with alacrity, humble, meek, and repentant. I cannot help but feel we should already have those qualities, feel the urgency, and readily align ourselves with the Lord’s will. I refuse to act the part of the strongman. I will confine myself to teaching and hope to be persuasive. But you must rise up and willingly accept the burden of discipleship [font size added for increased emphasis]. I do not want you to follow or obey me. I want to persuade you to follow Christ and to take seriously what He asks of us. We need to stop fighting and start reasoning together as if we reflected the image of God [mind of the Father, becoming “one”]. We need to behave more like our Lord [Holy Spirit sanctifying our souls] and less like His adversary. The work to prepare people for the Lord’s glory is imposed on every disciple. I can only improve myself. I can do nothing to improve you. But you have the power to individually rise up and qualify for the glory to be revealed. Or you can choose instead to lapse into petty arguments, prideful disputes, and more wasted time” (God’s Covenant People, Denver Snuffer Jr., pp.36-37, emphasis added).

When the context of the Savior’s words in 3 Nephi to the congregation and disciples is considered, the servant’s use of the word “disciples” becomes providential. Inspired!

          What is implied in the Covenant of Christ text to the Gentiles is laid bare plainly to latter-day Gentile believers. Emphasizing his encouragement toward discipleship of Christ over devotion to himself. He extends the invitation to repent and follow Christ as disciples.

          His words provide gentle affirmation the Gentile role in fulfilling the Lord’s prophecies is contingent on our becoming endowed with “power from on High”[6] because we “individually rise up and qualify for the glory to be revealed.” Making the transition from congregation members to a body of disciples of Jesus Christ is essential. Failure to do so means we have nothing but a library of scripture to deliver to Lehi’s descendants with no practical understanding and little faith. This outcome is exactly opposite of the Lord’s intent for the Restoration.

“Wherefore, I, the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph and spoke unto him from Heaven, and gave him commandment, and also gave commandments to others that they should proclaim these things unto the world. And all this that it might be fulfilled which was written by the prophets: the weak things of the world should 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, but that every man might speak in the name of God [transition from congregant to disciple], the Lord, even the Savior of the world, that faith also might increase in the earth, that my everlasting covenant might be established, that the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world and before kings and rulers. Behold, I am God and have spoken it.

These commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language [Covenant of Christ], that they might come to understanding [congregant to disciple transition]. And inasmuch as they erred, it might be made known [transparency]; and inasmuch as they sought wisdom, it might be instructed; and inasmuch as they sinned, they might be chastened that they might repent

[“We only have two choices: either to learn by precept or through sad experience. If we learn by precept, then we listen and follow the Lord. But, when we reject the Lord’s counsel and ignore His warning, then we learn through sad experiences. Based on the recent communication with the Lord, it appears we will need, and are going to learn, from sad experiences” (God’s Covenant People, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.14, emphasis added)];

and inasmuch as they were humble, they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time

[“I saw that the congregation of the Lamb, who were God’s holy ones, were also there throughout the earth; but their presence was small because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw. And I saw the great mother of abominations assembled in large numbers all over the earth among all Gentile nations to fight against the Lamb of God. Then I saw the power of the Lamb of God descend upon the holy ones of the Lamb’s congregation and upon the Lord’s covenant people, who were scattered across the earth. They were armed with righteousness and God’s power in great glory” (CofC 1 Nephi 3:28, emphasis added)] ,

after they having received the record of the Nephites. Yea, even my servant Joseph might have power to translate through the mercy of God, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon. And also, those to whom these commandments were given might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church [congregation] upon the face of the whole earth with which I, the Lord, am well pleased — speaking unto the church collectively and not individually. For I, the Lord, cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven, and he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received. For my spirit shall not always strive with man, says the Lord of Hosts” (RE T&C 54:4-5, emphasis added).

The Lord intends to do a “great work” through weak and simple people. That work increases faith and organizes disciples who authoritatively speak in the Lord’s name. We should find encouragement the Lord willingly uses weak and simple people.[7] However, weak and simple people undergo a process of refinement whereby, as Denver Snuffer explained, they learn by precept and sad experience.

          We seek comfort in the prospect all are candidates for discipleship. A cause of concern is the limited number of candidates who successfully transition from congregants to disciples. Nephi saw their numbers were “small” and spread throughout the earth.

          Another allusion to a limited number of people achieving discipleship is a dream given to Denver Snuffer:

“I recently had a vision that began as a dream. In it I was traveling in a small car [few passengers] up a mountain road . . . As we drove the small car upward, I noticed a sharp bend in the railroad tracks ahead that interrupted the otherwise straight course of the line . . . As we reached the top of the mountain, the last of the train went by and I stopped the little car. We got out and stood in the roadway looking down the mountain and watched as the last of the train was destroyed . . . I led the small party to the rock [Christ, discipleship] and discovered the opening was for a cavern that went upward within the shelter of the rock [8] . . . We entered the cave, and climbed upward [Heavenly ascent]. Inside the cavity of the rock our small group waited as the flood [God’s wrath] approached, unsure whether we would live or die . . . After a few more moments our small group emerged from the rock’s cavern to see what had transpired with the world . . .” (RE T&C 172:1-3, emphasis added).

Five times the description of the car or group is referred to as “small.” Once it is described as “little,” but there are multiple references to “we” suggesting more than one.

            The likelihood the numbers may be few  is alluded to in the servants talk, “God’s Covenant People,” when he said:

“After being corrected by the Lord, my pessimism about our condition has been replaced. The Lord does intend to make use of some of us to fulfill His will. However, that will not only include blessing and encouraging us but also disciplining and correcting us. I have no idea how joyful or painful the coming journey will be for any of us. I also do not know how many (or how few) will be there when the journey is completed and the promises are fulfilled. I do have an idea that there has been and will continue to be watchful care taken by the Lord to help a few of us along the remaining journey” (God’s Covenant People, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.30, emphasis added).

Another scripture suggesting a limited number of disciples accomplish the Lord’s work in the last days is the allegory of the Olive Tree. In Zenos’ account the Lord’s servant is sent to recruit additional workers to labor in His vineyard. The process is described as follows:

“Then the lord of the vineyard sent his servant, and the servant went and did as the lord had commanded him and brought a few other servants. And the lord of the vineyard told them: Get started and work hard in the vineyard. This is the last time I’ll tend my vineyard — the end is near and the harvest is coming quickly. If you work hard with me, you’ll have joy in the fruit that I’ll harvest for myself at the end of the growing season” (CofC Jacob 3:26, emphasis added).

It shouldn’t come as a surprise the number of laborers are few when the Lord does His last days work to gather Israel. Historically and scripturally He limits the number of laborers to a few so when He completes His work, credit for the success of the labor is His.[9] That is why His laborers are weak and their numbers few. The harvest is the Lord’s but He shares the joy of His successful harvest with those who labor with Him.

          Part 3 will explore the process one must experience to advance to a disciple of Christ. Prior to addressing that subject, there is a basic attribute one acquires before climbing the ladder to discipleship. One word repeated by the Lord and His servant is “humble.”

“and inasmuch as they were humble, they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time . . .” (T&C 54:5, emphasis added). 

The weak heeding the Lord’s Restoration call are humble. Humility brings blessings from “on high” [Heaven], strength, and knowledge

[revelation, “doctrines of the Priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from heaven” (T&C 139:6)].

          Consistent with the Lord’s revelation to Joseph Smith, the Lord’s servant said:

“ . . . So, I would ask us all to be more easily entreated by the Lord. To be easily persuaded, eager to respond with alacrity, humble, meek, and repentant. I cannot help but feel we should already have those qualities, feel the urgency, and readily align ourselves with the Lord’s will . . .” (God’s Covenant People, Denver Snuffer Jr., p.36-37, emphasis added).

Of all godly attributes, it appears humility is foundational to progression. There are many desirable attributes but if we aspire to discipleship humility brings “blessings from on high, strength and knowledge.”

          A passage in the Doctrine & Covenants rings true on the subject of the faithful seeking to bring Zion in the last days. It is not in the Teachings and Commandments but worthy of consideration.

“My people must be tried in all things [sad experience], that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.

Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear [knowledge, revelation];

 For my Spirit is sent forth into the world to enlighten the humble and contrite, and to the condemnation of the ungodly” (D&C 136:31-33, emphasis added).

Humility leads a person to blessings from Heaven, including revelation. Humility leads people who are weak and ignorant to the glory of Zion. The glory of God is intelligence or light and truth.[10]

“The Spirit of Truth is of God. I am the Spirit of Truth. And John bore record of me, saying, He received a fullness of truth, yea, even all truth. And no man receives a fullness unless he keeps his commandments. He that keeps his commandments receives truth and light until he is glorified in truth and knows all things” (T&C 93:9, emphasis added).

Light and truth, synonyms for the glory of God, comes to those sufficiently humble to receive the Lord’s counsel by obedience to His commandments. The disciple of Christ is one who follows His discipline. The Savior’s discipleship was walking the path of the Father. We are His disciples when we “Do the things you have seen me do.” It is incumbent upon us to follow the Savior on the Father’s path.

 [1] “But if the Gentiles repent and hearken to My words and don’t harden their hearts, I’ll establish My congregation among them. And they will enter the covenant and be included with the remnant of Jacob, to whom I’ve given this land as their inheritance. They will join with My people, the remnant of Jacob, and all those of the house of Israel who come, so they can build a city that will be called the New Jerusalem. Then they will join with My people who are scattered throughout the land so they can be brought in together to the New Jerusalem. Then the Powers of heaven [Patriarchal Fathers] will come down among them, and I [Christ] will be with them as well. Then the Father’s work will be underway, when this gospel is preached among the remnant of this people. Truly I say to you: At that time, the Father’s work will be taught among the scattered portion of My people, even the tribes that have been lost, whom the Father led away out of Jerusalem. The Father will work with My scattered people, to enable them to come to Me, so they can call on the Father in My name. Truly the work of the Father will be underway in all nations, clearing the way to let His people be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. They will go out from all nations. And they won’t go hastily or at a run, because I will go in front of them, says the Father, and I will guard them from behind” (CofC 3 Nephi 10:1, emphasis added).

[2] “The holy ghost shall be your constant companion, and your scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth, and your dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto you for ever and ever” (RE T&C 139:6, emphasis added).

[3] “But truly I say unto you that in time, you shall have no king nor ruler, for I will be your King and watch over you. Wherefore, hear my voice and follow me, and you shall be a free people, and you shall have no laws but my laws, for I am your lawgiver, and what can stay my hand? But truly I say unto you, teach one another according to the office wherewith I have appointed you, and let every man esteem his brother as himself, and practice virtue and holiness before me. And again, I say unto you, let every man esteem his brother as himself, for what man among you, having twelve sons, and is no respecter to them, and they serve him obediently, and he says unto the one, Be clothed in robes and sit here, and to the other, Be clothed in rags and sit there, and looks upon his sons and says, I am just? Behold, this I have given unto you, a parable, and it is even as I am. I say unto you, be one, and if you are not one, you are not mine” (RE T&C 22:7, emphasis added).

[4] “ . . . your bowels also being full of charity toward all men, and to the household of faith; and virtue garnish your thoughts unceasingly. Then shall your confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the doctrines of the Priesthood shall distill upon your soul as the dews from heaven . . .” (RE T&C 139:6, emphasis added).

[5] “ . . . But, my people, I haven’t done these things to boast, nor do I tell you this to complain about you. I tell you this so you know I can answer before God today with a clear conscience. Now I told you I had spent my days in your service, but I don’t say that to brag, for I’ve only been in the service of God” (CofC Mosiah 1:7, emphasis added).

[6] ““Yea, truly I say unto you, I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high, for this is the promise of the Father unto you. Therefore, I commanded you to tarry even as my apostles at Jerusalem. Nevertheless, my servants sinned a very grievous sin, and contentions arose in the school of the prophets, which was very grievous unto me, says your Lord. Therefore, I sent them forth to be chastened [sad experience]” (RE T&C 94:3, emphasis added).

[7] “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are chosen. For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are despised has God chosen, yea, and things which are not mighty to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written: He that glories, let him glory in the Lord” (RE 1 Corinthians 1:5, emphasis added).

[8] “The Book of Mormon contains Christ’s Gospel. It also contains His rock and His salvation. What is the rock contained within it? The better translation of Christ’s colloquy with Peter would have included the Lord identifying Peter not as a rock but as a seer stone. And upon the stone or seership would the Lord build His church [see also CEPHAS]. The Book of Mormon is more a Urim and Thummim than a book. It is a tremendous source of subject matter upon which to ponder, oftentimes drawing a veil at critical moments while inviting the reader to ponder, pray, and ask to see more. Used in that fashion, the Book of Mormon can open the heavens and make any person a seer. The words of a prophet are best understood by another prophet. If one can come to understand the Book of Mormon’s words, he or she can become a prophet (or more correctly, a seer) before whom scenes of God’s dealings with mankind — past, present, and future — will be put on display. Another way to interpret the rock is found in Eighteen Verses (p. 49), which discusses the meaning of 1 Nephi 1:3. The meaning of the rock — Ma’at — before Lehi (who wrote in Egyptian and would therefore understand meanings) was the stone of judgment, the symbol of truth, which signifies “reality,” on one hand, and “light,” on the other. Facsimile 2, figure 4 in the Book of Abraham, for example, shows the image of the Horus Hawk atop a rock and on the heavenly boat. Mankind has its own symbolic meanings associated with a rock. One of the clearest is Christ’s declaration that His names include the title “Rock of Heaven.” In vision, Enoch saw and heard the Lord declare: I am the Messiah, the King of Zion, the Rock of Heaven (Genesis 4:20).² “The ‘rock’ upon which we build is the Father, Son and holy ghost. There is abundant evidence of other ‘gods’ and of ‘goddesses.’ It is beyond dispute that the ‘image of God’ includes both male and female. It is inescapable, therefore, that the God we worship includes a Father and a Mother. However, we are only to seek after the Father, Son and holy ghost as the ‘rock’ upon which our salvation is to be built” (A Glossary of Gospel Terms, Rock, second edition, p.286, emphasis added).

[9] “ . . . And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, My own hand has saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from Mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty-two thousand, and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many. Bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for you there. And it shall be that of whom I say unto you, This shall go with you, the same shall go with you; and of whomever I say unto you, This shall not go with you, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water, and the Lord said unto Gideon, Everyone that laps of the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, him shall you set by himself; likewise, everyone that bows down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men. But all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you and deliver the Midianites into your hand. And let all the other people go every man unto his place. So the people took provisions in their hand, and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel every man unto his tent, and retained those three hundred men. And the host of Midian was beneath him in the valley” (RE  Judges 3:6, emphasis added).

[10] “The glory of God is intelligence, or in other words, light and truth . . .” (RE T&C 93:11).

Scott Roderick

7/2/2025

Do As You Have Seen Me Do 2.pdf

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