23 For the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the world, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the world, and to do all manner of iniquity; yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble, and quake; they are those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet.
I have written about the church of the devil before in this
journal (see entry for 1 Nephi 14: 10). Now, in this verse Nephi gives us a
good working definition of what qualifies a church to be a church of the devil.
The verse goes into greater detail than this but it could be simplified into
saying that if a church’s purpose is to gain or bestow temporary reward (as
opposed to eternal reward) it is the church of the devil. Satan cannot grant
eternal rewards. This is his kingdom;
he is the “prince of this world,” or the “god of this world” (see John 12: 31;
John 14: 30; 2 Corinthians 4: 4, etc.). This is where his domain is, and this
is where he has power to reward or punish, not in the eternities. So if a
church, organization, or individual is has the purpose of gaining earthly
rewards of money, power, popularity, lusts of the flesh, etc. while promising
eternal rewards, it is the church of the devil, no matter what else it teaches.
That’s why there are only two churches. Either you are trying to help people
earn a kingdom of glory or eternal salvation, or you are using people for these
earthly, temporary rewards. Satan has no power to grant eternal rewards. So shepherds
of churches who “feed themselves” instead of feeding the sheep are the ones who
should really fear (see Ezekiel 34: 2–3). I don’t think it really matters as
much what your message is, but what
your intent is. The implication here
is that belonging to a church of the devil is not necessarily system-wide
throughout a church, or even necessarily congregation-by-congregation, but
individual-by-individual. The scary thought is that with this definition,
individual members of Christ’s church could also qualify, theoretically at
least, as belonging to the church of the devil, a sort of dual citizenship. But
the scriptures teach us time and again you cannot belong to both the Church of
God and the church of the devil. “No man can serve two masters,” Christ taught,
“for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to
the one, and despise the other” (Matthew 6: 24). By having a lay ministry we
minimize that particular earthly reward, but what about those who get in a
leadership position and start to crave the perceived popularity that they feel?
There are even cases, however rare they may be, where ecclesiastical leaders
have taken advantage of members of their congregation in various ways to
satisfy their own desires. This would be a temporal reward, not an eternal one,
so they would qualify as belonging to the church of the devil, even if they
belong to another church, including, unfortunately, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints.
- Ezekiel 34: 2–3
- Matthew 6: 24)
- Luke 6: 26
- 2 Timothy 4: 3–4
- 1 Nephi 13: 6
- 1 Nephi 14: 10 (9–10)
- 2 Nephi 26: 20
- 2 Nephi 28: 19
- Alma 1: 3
