When Moses was building the tabernacle, he asked for free will offerings from the treasures the people received on exit from Egypt in order to provide the raw materials. There were many things that needed to be done that exceeded his specific skills: weaving the cloth, preparing the skins, building the structure, fashioning the metal, etc. In all these things, God provided people who were better at them than Moses so that he could focus his limited time on what only he could do.
In the labor God has tasked me to perform, we have reached a place where he has made a place for free will offerings to provide the raw materials. But the use of those materials for the task at hand looks very different than it did for Moses. What is before me presently is the work to obtain and prepare books that contain content necessary to help you derive what is intended from being born in the last days. This is a burden that one person must carry, for reasons that these books will eventually describe.
There are those whose hearts are full of desire to help, even though their wallets are empty. Some have written to me apologizing for their lack of means. My dear friends, have you not read what King Benjamin taught:
And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give. (Mosiah 4:24)
Over the years, I’ve had a few offerings from people with specific talents asking if there is something they can do. This is something we need to peel apart and address on several layers to paint the full picture, even if specific details will not apply to every single person.
First, I am obligated to bring up the principle of obedience vs. sacrifice, using the scriptural phrase that comes from the Old Testament where Saul refused to do what the Lord commanded him through Samuel, and offered unrequested sacrifices instead. In this case, what is going to make this possible or not possible is money, not your talents. It may be humiliating to realize that skills that you value highly can only plug into this work at present through being converted to what others will pay you for them, but that is only part of the eye of the needle that you are going to have to go through in approaching God in our day, and it’s something all disciples must get used to. There will be future times when the Lord has a place for many more talents, just as Moses had need of the artisans. However, at present, we are in a time when a widow’s mite is more valuable to God’s work than anything else, including what you might see as a valuable talent, because money is presently the only way you can convert that to the work he has given me to do, and that work is vitally important to your ability to prepare for and participate in what is coming.
There will be more opportunities for non-monetary assistance when it comes to living and sharing the ideas that the Lord has made available. Many of those opportunities already exist for the vast quantity of material I have already published, as well as everything published by others before me, and this raises another point that must be addressed.
I have repeatedly asked all of you to do what you can to share what God has taught you with others. I will be providing you well over 1,000 pages of content that increases your ability to do that well. Some have made YouTube channels and shared what God has taught them. You are making a difference. There are many other things that are helpful, such as sharing brief snippets of your own words or the words of others on social media, sharing links to the work of others, writing your own synopsis of content and sharing that, writing book reviews, etc. The impact of these things to others far outweighs the cost to you. Even little efforts make a huge difference.
For those who have done this, I commend you. But very few have done what they already can.
For those who have not, I warn you with all solemnity that the only thing preserving the already anemic connection you have to God is his abundant mercy. God is always merciful, but his mercy is not the indefinite suspension of justice. His mercy delays his justice, but it cannot stop it, and even now—though you may not realize it—you are spared only because of the intercession of others on your behalf. The efficacy of this intervention is diminishing and will come to an end.
Where much has been given, much is expected. It is the duty of all who have been warned to warn their neighbor. Those who have these things and bury the treasure they’ve been given instead of sharing it will incur the just punishment of God.
For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation. (D&C 82:3)
Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor. (D&C 88:81)
Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel among the congregations of the wicked; wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known. (D&C 60:13)
Those who are not doing what is presently asked of them will not receive greater things when they are offered. God does not bless those with more who have not yet lived up to what has already been given. The technology and discretionary time of today makes it possible for people to recite ideas with power beyond what they live. But no amount of familiarity with an idea—not matter how true—can connect you to the living God without you actually changing how you think, feel, and act to align with what those ideas help you to see he would do in your place.
If you have not lived what God has taught you and shared it with your family, friends, and those God has placed in your life, the only reason you have access to more is that God has not yet terminated the modern information streams that allow you to piggyback on the faith of others beyond your own merit. As I have told you before, those channels will not last forever. When they are removed, you will be left in a vacuum bereft of the light you foolishly assumed was your own, and fully exposed to consequences that are beyond your ability to contend with.
And this provides us the opportunity to make the final point today, which is that under no circumstances will your donations to me make up for sin against God. That is not the way repentance works. While prioritizing your means with what you value most is part of doing what God would in your place, it cannot make up for willfully rebelling against him in other ways.
To all who have or will assist, in whatever way and to whatever ends you feel best, I sincerely thank you. I hope that it magnifies the value you find in what it enables through this opportunity God has given you to participate in what would otherwise be beyond your reach.