My blog post for Come Follow Me: 3 Nephi 27-4 Nephi.
Excerpt:
“just because a church calls itself after Christ’s name, does not mean it is his Church. It must also be “built upon my (Jesus’) gospel.” To the extent that a church strays from that directive, it is less and less the Lord’s church. A Church built upon the gospel will show forth the Father’s works.
“if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. For their works do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you” (3 Ne 27:11-12).
Here, the Lord gives us an insight on not only the churches that are in the world, but all organizations and things found on earth. All things are founded upon the Lord’s gospel, man’s gospel, or Satan’s gospel. Of the three, only the Lord’s gospel promises eternal joy and peace. The other two are temporary, and one may find “joy” {perhaps “pleasure” is a better word} in those things. But eventually the things of man corrode and fall apart, while the works of Satan will all end tragically.How do we determine the things of man?
A simple illustration might help us see this. Many eons ago, my youngest son asked me to buy him the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game for his Nintendo system. He told me that it would make him the happiest person on earth. So, for his birthday, I purchased it for him. Indeed, he seemed like the happiest kid in the world when he unwrapped it. For days he played the game, almost without stop. After a couple weeks, I noticed he wasn’t playing it. I asked him why he wasn’t. He responded that he now had beaten the game several times and was bored with it. No longer did I see the face of the happiest kid in the world, but someone who needed his next “fix.”
In a world of avarice and greed, this is now ubiquitous. Today, we find people looking for happiness in the things they buy or rent, the number of vacations they have, the number of kills on their current video game, the nice restaurants they frequent, the size of their house and SUV. Yet, even though most Americans are wealthier now than when my son was 8 years old, they are more miserable than ever. Pleasure does not equal lasting joy.
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https://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2020/10/come-follow-me-3-nephi-27-4-nephi.html