Verse 78 is incredibly accurate if you’ve ever had much experience with how Bishops operate within a ward.76) And behold, the shepherds of the church, yea, the High Priest and the Priests, the Elders even down to the least of their Teachers, shall in one voice declare and agree that none shall come unto salvation except by and through them, for the Peacemaker shall have chosen them over all the earth and they shall esteem themselves the Elect of the Peacemaker because of that little priesthood which the Peacemaker shall have given them as an helpmete and as a schooling ground.
77) And where is there greater pride than this, that man shall extol his own virtue and call himself elect in all the world? Yet, in the day whereof I speak, there shall be hunger in their country. And behold, there shall be they among them who suffer with the cold and are destitute. And they shall judge them and give unto them a little, but in the main, they shall look upon the suffering of the people and esteem themselves the more blessed because of their riches. And they shall declare in their hearts that the poor are not as blessed because of sin. Behold, this is the pride of they who shall call themselves Saints in the latter days.
78) And behold, they shall claim to have charity, but it shall be by extortion. And they shall claim to have the love of the Peacemaker, but it shall be meted out sparingly and upon conditions. It shall not be freely given, but shall be doled out by practice and by policy that does grind the face of the poor and bring about a division between them and the rich. They shall have not all things in common and all things shall be dictated unto them. Yea, they shall know nothing of the Common Consent. And this shall they call righteousness. Yea, because of this they shall call themselves the very Elect of the Peacemaker.
I pray to the heavens that we will yearn to become a consecrated society. But I fear it cannot and will not happen within the structure of the LDS church. The Lord will have new bottles for new wine.
PS, don’t worry, there are many wonderful parts of this record that I’ll get to that don’t focus on the sins and pride of our generation. But make no mistake, they touch on nearly every facet of the LDS religious experience.