Condemnation - Is the Lord seeking another people?

Condemnation - Is the Lord seeking another people?

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "... for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved of in all things, in His sight, He will seek another people; (DHC 1:316, TPJS, p. 18)

The following condemnation was pronounced upon the church in 1831:
D&C 84:54-59 - "And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received - - which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written - - that they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father's kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion."

In a solemn assembly at general conference April 6, 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson was sustained by Church members as the prophet, seer, and revelator, and President of the Church. In his concluding address of the conference, President Benson said, “…the Lord has revealed the need to reemphasize the Book of Mormon to get the Church and all the children of Zion out from under condemnation—the scourge and judgment" (Ensign 16 [May 1986]:7-8;. To that end, his address "The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God" was repeated in regional conferences throughout the Church.

So according to president Benson, after one hundred fifty-five years, the church continued to remain under condemnation for failure to take the scriptures seriously!
On 6 June 1993, Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this fireside address, "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" was given at Brigham Young University. In his remarks he said,
“Along with other General Authorities, I have a clear recollection of the General Authority temple meeting on March 5, 1987. For a year President Benson had been stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon. Repeatedly he had quoted these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lord's statement that the Saints' conduct had "brought the whole church under condemnation" (D&C 84:55).”
“In that temple meeting, President Benson reread those statements and declared, "This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be until we repent" (remarks by President Ezra Taft Benson, General Authority Temple Meeting, Thursday, 5 March 1987). He also repeated his declaration of a year earlier that, in our day, the Lord has inspired his servant to reemphasize the Book of Mormon to get the Church out from under condemnation”

“To understand why President Benson has exhorted us to reemphasize the Book of Mormon and why this is necessary to remove us from condemnation, we need to remember the major theme of that book…I will give you my clear impressions of why he has pleaded with us to repent of our neglect of the Book of Mormon…I believe it is the neglect of this subject that has continued the condemnation in our own day.”

“This is the new covenant, as explained in the Book of Mormon. May we follow the commandment to give diligent heed to these words of eternal life; may we follow our prophet's challenge to remove the condemnation that comes from treating this new covenant lightly; may we be true to our sacred responsibilities, I pray, even as I testify to the truth of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

So according to Elder Oaks, after one hundred sixty-two years, the church continued to remain under condemnation!

On December 31, 2003 Jack R. Christianson, director, Orem Institute of Religion published “Why We Need the Book of Mormon" , which is excerpted from Life Lessons from the Book of Mormon, in which he quoted a number of General Authorities and Book of Mormon scriptures that referred to this same condemnation. Among many references to it are: ‘As President Benson has suggested, "We must flood the earth with the Book of Mormon--and get out from under God's condemnation for having treated it lightly.", and then quoting Robert Millet, former dean of the College of Religious Instruction at Brigham Young University, said this of the condemnation we are under:

“In a broader sense, I believe the condemnation that rests upon the Latter-day Saints is a loss of spiritual power, a loss of blessings, a loss of perspective about eternal possibilities. Perhaps we have not enjoyed the revelations, the divine direction, the sweet promptings of the Spirit, that might have been ours. We have not been the recipients of the fruit of the Spirit--"love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23)--as we could have been. Surely we have not enjoyed the understanding, the light and truth, the lens of pure intelligence, that is so readily accessible. In too many cases our minds and hearts have not been shaped and prepared by the Book of Mormon, by its lessons and logic, testimony and transforming power, and thus too often the judgment and discernment so essential to perceiving the false doctrines of the world, and even the irrelevant, have not been as strong as they might have been. Because we have not immersed and washed ourselves in those living waters that flow from the Book of Mormon, we have not enjoyed faith like the ancients, that faith which strengthens resolve and provides courage and peace in a time of unrest. So much of the stress and fear and apprehension and exhaustion that now exist in society is so very unnecessary; ours could be the right to that lifting and liberating Spirit that produces hope and peace and rest. Though the light of the fulness of the everlasting gospel has begun to break forth into a world of darkness (see D&C 45:28), yet too often we walk in darkness at noonday, or at least we traverse the path of life in twilight when we might bask in the bright light of the Son.” (The Power of the Word: Saving Doctrines from the Book of Mormon, p. 303)

So according to Elder Christianson, after one hundred seventy-two years, the church continued to remain under condemnation!

Is there any doubt that the church remains under that same condemnation, even today?

With that fact in mind, I would point out to you that in August of 1831, the Lord warned the church, saying, “Wherefore, let the church repent of their sins, and I, the Lord, will own them; otherwise they shall be cut off.” (D&C 63:63). As anyone can see the church is still under condemnation and has NOT repented after one hundred seventy-eight years [2009], and true to the warning of the Lord, it has been CUT OFF from the blessings listed above by Dr. Millet, if not much more.