Burying Our Weapons of Rebellion

What can we do to bury our disposition or desire for sin?

It’s crazy to think about the rebellion of W. W. Phelps because it seems forgotten because of his sincere repentance and subsequent faithfulness.

I’m curious what example of passive forms of rebellion he will talk about.

• The way we speak can be a passive form of rebellion.
• Devotion to a career (over more eternal concerns) can become an impediment to spiritual growth.
• Excessive focus on physical health and physical appearance.

Burying or weapons of rebellion means putting the first commandment first.

We might ask ourselves what we could do to follow this pattern, to “lay down the weapons of [our] rebellion,” whatever they may be, and become so “converted [to] the Lord” that the stain of sin and the desire for sin are taken from our hearts and we never will fall away.

{William W. Phelps} turned against the Church and the Prophet, even to the point of giving false testimony against Joseph Smith in a Missouri court, which contributed to the Prophet’s imprisonment there.

Later, Phelps wrote to Joseph asking for forgiveness. “I know my situation, you know it, and God knows it, and I want to be saved if my friends will help me.”

In his reply the Prophet stated: “It is true that we have suffered much in consequence of your behavior. … However, the cup has been drunk, the will of our Heavenly Father has been done, and we are yet alive. … Come on, dear brother, since the war is past, for friends at first are friends again at last.”

With sincere repentance, William Phelps buried his “weapons of rebellion” and was received once more in full fellowship, never again to fall away.

The subject may be about laying down or rebellion but we really have to learn the kind of forward looking forgiveness shown by the prophet. He didn’t hold a grudge for the bitter cup he had been required to drink.

Perhaps the more insidious form of rebellion against God, however, is the passive version—ignoring His will in our lives. Many who would never consider active rebellion may still oppose the will and word of God by pursuing their own path without regard to divine direction.

There are things in our lives that may be neutral or even inherently good but that used in the wrong way become “weapons of rebellion.”

The weapons are tools. Most of them can be used either for good or evil. We must be mindful of the uses that we put a tool to.

It is possible that devotion to career can become the paramount focus of one’s life. Then all else becomes secondary, including any claim the Savior may make on one’s time and talent.

• Forgoing legitimate opportunities for marriage
• Failing to cleave to and lift one’s spouse
• Failing to nurture one’s children, or even intentionally avoiding the blessing and responsibility of child-rearing solely for the sake of career advancement can convert laudable achievement into a form of rebellion.

This is a good example of how something good can be used for rebellion.

In the end, burying our weapons of rebellion against God simply means yielding to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, putting off the natural man, and becoming “a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord.” It means putting the first commandment first in our lives. It means letting God prevail. If our love of God and our determination to serve Him with all our might, mind, and strength become the touchstone by which we judge all things and make all our decisions, we will have buried our weapons of rebellion. By the grace of Christ, God will forgive our sins and rebellions of the past and will take away the stain of those sins and rebellions from our hearts. In time, He will even take away any desire for evil, as He did with those Lamanite converts of the past. Thereafter, we too “never [will] fall away.”