I recently had the privilege of speaking during a sacrament
meeting at my church, and I wanted to share with you bits and pieces from that message.
I was asked to speak on the articles of
faith, which if you don’t know what those are check out this
link……….
For those of you who do know what they are,
try to recite all 13…. Ok, ok you can stop hurting yourself now, I couldn’t
remember all 13
th either.
My talk particularly focused around the 1st
article of faith; which reads we believe in God the Eternal Father and in His
Son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost. This
article of faith explains some of the basics of what we as members of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe. It is a helpful tool used
to explain to non-members that we believe in the Godhead. The Godhead we
believe in has similarities as well as differences to the godhead most other
Christians believe in. Similarities such as believing the Father to be the
ultimate object of worship, the Son to be the Lord and Redeemer, and the Holy
Spirit as the messenger and revealer of the Father and the Son. But where Latter-day Saints differ from other
Christian religions is in their belief that God and Jesus Christ are glorified,
physical beings and that each member of the Godhead is a separate being.
Although the members of the Godhead are distinct beings with distinct roles,
they however are one in purpose and doctrine. They are perfectly united in
bringing to pass Heavenly Father's divine plan of salvation.
I now want to make a distinction that I think is sometimes
overlooked.
One of the most terrifying
dilemmas in the universe consists of two facts. The first is expressed in
Doctrine and
Covenants 1:31: “I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of
allowance.” [
D&C
1:31] That means he can’t tolerate it. He can’t blink or look the other
way. The other fact is very simply put: We all sin. If the equation consisted
of only those two facts, the conclusion would be inescapable: As sinful beings,
we can
never enter God’s presence. But that is not all there is. There
is the atonement of
Jesus
Christ—that glorious plan— by which this dilemma can be resolved.
And the amazing thing is that the Atonement
works in practical ways.
Stephen A Robinson told the story…When my son Michael was
six or seven, he did something I thought was wrong. He is my only son, and I
want him to be better than his dad was. So when he slipped up, I sent him to
his room with the instructions, “Don’t you dare come out until I come and get
you!”
…And then I forgot... Some hours later, as I was watching
television, I heard his door open and tentative footsteps coming down the hall.
I slapped my forehead and ran to meet him. There he was with swollen eyes and
tears on his cheeks. He looked up at me—not quite sure he should have come
out—and said, “Dad, can’t we ever be friends again?” I melted and pulled him to
me. He’s my boy, and I love him.
We all do things that disappoint our Father in Heaven, that
separate us from his presence, his Spirit. There are times when we get sent to
our rooms, spiritually though not physically. When that happens, we sometimes
lift up our eyes and say, “O Father, can’t we ever be friends again?” The
answer, found in all the scriptures, is a resounding “Yes—through the atonement
of Christ.” I particularly like the way it is put in Isaiah 1:18: “Come now,
and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow.” [
Isa. 1:18] To
have faith in Jesus Christ
is not merely to believe that he is who he says
he is. It is not merely to believe
in Christ;
we must also believe Christ.
Stephen A Robinson continues, “ Both as a bishop and as a
teacher, I have heard several variations on a theme of doubt. Some have said,
“Bishop, I’ve sinned too horribly. I’ll be active in the Church, and I hope for
some reward. But I couldn’t ever hope to be exalted after what I’ve done.”
Others have said, “I’m weak and imperfect. I don’t have all the talents that
Brother Jones (or Sister Smith) does. I’ll never be the bishop (or the Relief
Society president). I’m just average. I expect my reward in eternity will be a
little lower than theirs.” All of these are variations on the same theme: “I do
not believe Christ can do what he claims. I have no faith in his ability to
exalt me.”
I once counseled a man who said, “Bishop, I’m just not
celestial material.” Well, I’d heard those words once too often, so I said,
“You’re not celestial material? Welcome to the club. Not one of us is! Not one
of us qualifies on our own for the presence of God. So why don’t you admit your
real problem? Why don’t you admit that you don’t believe Christ can do what he
says he can do?” He got angry. “I have a testimony of Jesus!” I said, “Yes, you
believe in Christ. You simply do not believe
Christ. He says that even though you are not celestial, he can make you
celestial—but you don’t believe it.”
I challenge each of you to ponder this week, do you believe
in Christ in addition to believing Christ?
A few weeks back Robby and I had the missionaries over for
dinner and after dinner they asked the question why do you believe? Quite a
loaded question isn’t it? At the time I was put on the spot and I gave a pretty
generic answer, but over the last couple weeks it definitely has been stuck on
my mind. WHY do I believe? For me it is really the little things, the day to
day miracles, and the tender mercies the Lord affords me each day. Things like my prayers being answered. The peace
and comfort I get from Him; the miracles I see around me every day; the
beautiful outdoors and nature; and the happiness I can see that the gospel
brings to those around me.
Twenty-six hundred years ago, Babylon was the world’s great
superpower.
Its great army invaded, torched, and looted the Assyrian
capital, Nineveh. It easily conquered Jerusalem and carried away the best and
brightest of the children of Israel back to Babylon to serve King
Nebuchadnezzar. One of these captives was a young man by the name of Daniel. Daniel was taken into the king’s court to be
educated in the language, laws, religion, and science of the worldly Babylon.
Can you imagine what it would have felt like to be forced
from your home, marched over 500 miles to a foreign city, and indoctrinated in
the religion of your enemies?
Daniel had been raised as a follower of Jehovah. He believed
in and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And the Lord did bless
Daniel.
Though his faith was challenged and ridiculed, he stayed
true to what he knew by his own experience to be right. Daniel believed. Daniel
did not ever doubt.
And then one night, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that
troubled his mind. He assembled his team of scholars and counselors and
demanded that they describe the dream to him and also reveal the meaning of it.
Of course, they could not. This made Nebuchadnezzar furious,
and he commanded that all the wise men, magicians, astrologers, and counselors
be cut in pieces—including Daniel and the other young students from Israel.
Daniel mustered up all the faith and strength he had to
approach the King to ask for a little extra time. Then he and his faithful companions went to
the source of their faith and moral strength. They prayed to God and
asked for divine help at this crucial moment in their lives. And “then was the
secret revealed unto Daniel in a … vision.”
Daniel, the young boy from a conquered nation—who had been
bullied and persecuted for believing in his strange religion—went before the
king and revealed to him the dream and its interpretation. From that day on, as
a direct result of his faithfulness to God, Daniel became a trusted counselor
to the king, renowned for his wisdom in all of Babylon. The boy who believed
and lived his faith had become a man of God. A prophet. A prince of
righteousness.
Are we like Daniel?
Do we stand loyal to God?
Do we practice what we preach, or are we Sunday Christians
only?
Do our daily actions reflect clearly what we claim to
believe?
Do we help “the poor and the needy, the sick and the
afflicted”?
Do we just talk the talk, or do we enthusiastically walk the
walk?
In Moses 1:39 it
reads that "For behold this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man". I think often times we think of that
as the purpose of our Heavenly Father but we need to remember it's the ultimate
purpose of all three members of the godhead; and each member of the godhead
plays a different part in achieving that. Our Heavenly Father has set up a perfect plan
for us, has provided us with everything we need to gain eternal life. We can
talk to him personally in prayer and receive direction in our lives. Jesus
Christ our Savior actually came to this earth to experience what we will
experience. He knows first hand what we are going through and how we feel and
he knows exactly how to help us. Because of his atonement we can overcome
physical and spiritual death. And then
finally we have the blessing that as long as we follow Gods commandments, the
Holy Ghost will be a constant companion. He will be there to comfort us,
strengthen us, and guide us. So even though the godhead is one on purpose, each
member plays a different role in how they help us gain eternal life.
