From: Francis Harper
wbfrmsup@iowatelecom.net
Francis Harper Message for 10/18/2019
His Righteous Judgment
“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We will be judged. Jesus said: “For the day soon cometh, that men shall come before me to judgment, to be judged according to their works. And many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name; and cast out devils; and in thy name done many wonderful works? Then will I say, ye never knew me; depart from me ye that work iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house on a rock, and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock, And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand; and the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:31-33 IV; 7:21-27 KJV). We will not be judged by merely believing in the words of Jesus, but by doing them! We will be judged by our works. “. . . and they were judged every man according to their works” (Revelation 20:13). Will we be weighed in the balance and found wanting? See Daniel 5:27.
Paul wrote: “for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; but it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). This scripture has caused many to believe that we will be judged by our faith alone. This is a misinterpretation. James corrects this erroneous thinking. He wrote: “I will show thee my faith by my works . . . ye see then by works a man is justified, and not by faith only . . . For, as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead” (James 2:15, 23, 25). The Book of Mormon settles the argument of faith vs. works: “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 11:44). Good works follow a strong faith.
We should never take lightly the fact that all of us will be judged. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive a reward of the deeds done in the body” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Many may agree with the philosophy of Hillary Clinton who asked: “What difference does it make?” “And there shall be many who shall say, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die: and it shall be well with us . . . nevertheless, fear God, he will justify in committing a little sin: yea, lie a little . . . and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we will be saved in the kingdom of God” (2 Nephi 12:9-11).
God’s judgment of us begins on the day we die. Jesus said to the penitent thief: “Verily I say unto thee; Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:44 IV; 23:43 KJV). Those who are not worthy to dwell in Paradise will be immediately consigned to a correctional facility which Peter called a prison. See 1 Peter 3:18-20.
“The worth of souls is great in the sight of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 16:3-c). For this reason Jesus went to preach to the “spirits in prison some of whom were disobedient in the days of Noah” (1 Peter 3:19-20). Evidently as long as there is even one spark of redeeming value in a soul, Jesus will continue to labor to save it. Remember the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7); and the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).
The great and final judgment will take place after the Lord’s millennial reign. John wrote: “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; . . . and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works” (Revelation 20:12). “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).
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Dear Ones,
Jesus will judge us and his judgment is just and perfect. Jesus is the keeper of the gate to life eternal which is prepared for the happiness of the saints. “Behold the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel: and he employeth no servant there; And there is none other way, save it be by the gate, for he cannot be deceived; for the Lord God is his name. And whoso knocketh, to him, will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches; yea, they are they whom he despiseth; And save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them . . . the happiness prepared for the saints” (2 Nephi 6:81-85).
Jesus is “the keeper of the gate and he employeth no servant there” because he is the only one who is able to determine those who are worthy to dwell in his kingdom.
During the early spring of 1994, our good friend, Lou Waite, came to see me about two dreams she wanted me to interpret. In the first dream she was near the cross at our reunion grounds. She noticed the gate to the grounds was closed with some people outside the gate and others on the inside. She could recognize faces in the crowd and wondered why the people were being separated?
She thought the gate should not be closed. Someone said to her, “you should know why the gate is closed.” When she turned toward this person, she awoke from her dream. She was facing the digital clock on her bedside table and the time was 3:33 AM.
About three weeks later she had the second dream. She was back at the reunion grounds. This time she was down among the people. Again there were many faces she recognized and many she did not recognize. But strangely, as she walked through the crowd, she could see them but most could not see her. She walked to the gate which was still closed with people on both sides.
Once again she thought, this gate should not be closed, it should be opened! Others near her were saying “No! The gate has been closed. Those people don’t belong here!” When she awoke, once again, the time was 3:33 AM. The significance of waking at that specific time could not be ignored. At this point Lou, a recent convert to the church, asked me to interpret her dreams.
After much meditation and prayer, I put my interpretation in writing. In summary, I wrote that the gate was symbolic of the gate leading into the Lord’s millennial kingdom. This gate will be closed at the time of the Lord’s Second Coming! His coming is near. He will close the gate. We should be thankful that we are being warned. We need to take these warnings very seriously.
After writing the interpretation, I gave it to my secretary, Nancy Baker, for typing. She wrote: “At about 4:30, Friday evening, June 2, 1994, Francis brought the letter [the interpretation] for me to type. He wanted to give it to Lou Sunday morning at Church. I told Francis I would come back Saturday morning and type it.
“ I thought to myself, why do I have to type this? Why doesn’t he just go talk to the lady and get it over with. This letter writing is childish. When I went to bed Friday evening these thoughts were still bugging me. I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden my eyes came completely open. I was looking directly at our digital clock, and it was 3:33 AM! I thought immediately, type the letter!
“This was odd for me. It is normal for me to awaken early, but usually I am slow to completely awake. To look directly at our clock, I have to be on my right side. I never sleep on my right side! But this particular night I was.
“On Saturday morning, I went to work and willingly typed the letter. I know the lady was puzzled by being awakened at 3:33 AM. At the end of each of her dreams. I have never been awakened at 3:33, before or since. I had a rebellious spirit, and I believe the Lord was trying to correct that and was confirming the truth of the lady’s dreams and the interpretation.” – Nancy Baker.
Twenty-five years have passed and the gate to the Lord’s kingdom is still open. Many who expect to be within the gate when it is finally closed, may find themselves judged unworthy to dwell in the kingdom of God! How tragic this will be for these unfortunate persons. Our faithfulness in following Jesus “with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of our sins . . .” (2 Nephi 13:16), will determine his judgment of our worthiness to dwell within the gate of his millennial kingdom.
These spiritual dreams are a double witness of truth and are reminiscent of the parable of the virgins (Matthew 25:1-11). As Joseph said to Pharaoh: “and for the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass” (Genesis 41:32).
My Love to All,
High Priest Francis Harper
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