Sabbathought: " . . . tell that fox . . . ."

Aware that Sunday is Hallowe'en, and having a few spare moments, I thought I would thwart the gremlins that might try to sabotage this message and send it out on Friday . . . !

Last week we tried to be as bold as the Prophet Joseph and Elder David Bednar of the Twelve in starting to show from the "Five Gospels" that the Lord Jesus is a much different character than the Person we hear of second hand. It takes a serious and sustained study of the scriptures to find Him. Otherwise He remains unknown and unappreciated by us.

Speaking to His Apostles on the Mount of Olives just days before His Atonement, Jesus warned them---and us who would see His words many centuries later---of "false Christs" in the last days who would "deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant" (think of the temple), if those elect are not careful and vigilant and wise.

A suspicious-looking individual with a beard and strange garb claiming to be the Christ would not deceive any but the very gullible, and certainly not "the very elect." No, He was warning of false doctrine about Christ, of a distorted image of Christ, as Isaiah had prophesied (52:14; see 3 Nephi 20:11--22:17). A false idea of Christ is a false Christ. Likewise, a false idea of His servants the prophets, is a false prophet. Joseph Smith illustrated this:

"Some of the [early members of the Church] thought I was not a very meek Prophet; so I told them: 'I am meek and lowly in heart,' and will personify Jesus for a moment, to illustrate the principle, and cried out with a loud voice, 'Woe unto you, ye doctors; woe unto you, ye lawyers; woe unto you, ye scribes, Pharisees, and hypocrites!'"

Then Joseph concluded, "But you cannot find the place where I ever went that I found fault with their food, their drink, their house, their lodgings; no, never; and this is what is meant by the meekness and lowliness of Jesus" (Teachings, page 270).

Showing their own lack of understanding and maturity, and demonstrating how a false idea of Christ had been absorbed by them from the world, my teenage seminary students often would question the Savior's propriety in cleansing the temple at the start of His ministry and again at the end. "I always thought He was perfect," they said disappointedly, "I guess He wasn't, huh? . . . He was rude." These were their words and feelings about Him.

These illustrations start to explain why we have undertaken to address this issue as we anticipate a deep and wonderful study in Sunday School of the New Testament beginning in a couple of months.

Further, as Robert J. Matthews has pointed out, "There is not a single case in the four Gospel records that represents Jesus as impatient, critical, or unkind to people"---now, again notice . . . ! Just as we showed last week, some of us are prone to place a period or full stop at the end of these words, or even an exclamation mark. But Brother Matthews continues:

" . . . Jesus as impatient, critical, or unkind to people who were repentant, teachable, and willing to change their lives." Brother Matthews goes on to describe Jesus' compassion and open support and charity to the humble. Then this:

"But He was a terror to the workers of iniquity and those who were self-righteous, deceptive, or hypocritical. In dealing with the repentant, He was kind, gentle, yet firm---the promised Messiah. To the proud, the haughty, and the arrogant, He was absolutely indomitable and irrepressible and a threat to their craftiness" (Selected Writings [1999], page 241, emphasis added).

Also, from the Prophet: "Our heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive; and, at the same time, is more terrible to the workers of iniquity, more awful in the executions of His punishments, and more ready to detect every false way, than we are apt to suppose Him to be. He will be inquired of by His children" (Teachings, page 257).

In His teachings and interactions with people in the four Gospels Jesus often offended His hearers. These are the "rough things" Joseph spoke of that we highlighted last week. From the above statements and insights, now we know why He offended them. The issue is simple: meekness, mildness, humility, teachableness, true repentance on the part of His hearers, these are what determined whether they saw and heard the Lamb or the Lion. He is both. We ourselves determine which aspect of Him and His teachings will prevail with us and judge us.

The word "offended" in reference to His teachings is found fourteen times in the four Gospels. The Greek word is "skandalizo" . . . .

The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (see Ephesians 6:17; Alma 31:5; D&C 6:2; 11:2; and the rest) is a weapon of defense, but also a weapon of offense, for as Elder Bruce R. McConkie has observed, "It is not possible to teach the gospel without offending somebody."

In our anxiety to be tolerant, loving, and to avoid giving offense at all costs we tend to dilute the message of the gospel from a gospel of repentance and mercy to a gospel of love alone. We imitate the world instead of the holy men He has sent. It does not work that way. . . . It is a false idea of the gospel; it is a false Christ.

There is much more to say on this.

When "certain of the Pharisees" came to Him ostensibly to warn Him to leave Jerusalem for His safety, "for Herod will kill thee," His response was, "Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected" (Luke 13:31--2; see to the end of the chapter, especially the JST footnotes). Should He not be more respectful of civic authority, more politically correct, less "rude"? "Go ye, and tell that fox" says much. He is fearlessly rendering unto Caesar . . . .

Family and friends, unless we pay a price to search these things diligently in the scriptural record itself, we shall, by default, have a distorted image of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is the clear message of the prophets, of those with the spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus, the message of those who know Him. I want so much to be one of them, to be one with them and with Him.

More later on this.

Have a glorious Autumn weekend.

Steve

Sabbathought: " . . . reject Him for being so rough"

Last year in England Elder David A. Bednar of the Twelve urged the Saints to study "carefully the Five Gospels", as he put it, meaning Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and 3 Nephi.

Elder Bednar promised that if the Saints would study and search (not just read) these five books of scripture diligently and carefully, they would find a very different Jesus than the one they think they know.

Such a serious study, if undertaken with the full intent of finding the true Son of God, not the one the world speaks of but the One revealed from heaven in this last dispensation, would reveal quite a few surprises.

The greatest revealer of Christ the world has ever known is the Prophet Joseph Smith working through the Holy Ghost. Joseph knows much on the subject, for he knew Him.

Note these teachings of the Prophet: "If you wish to go where God is, you must be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses."

Joseph continued, " . . . for if we are not drawing towards God in principle, we are going from Him and drawing towards the devil [there is no middle ground]. Yes, I am standing in the midst of all kinds of people.

"Search your hearts, and see if you are like God. I have searched mine, and feel to repent of all my sins" (Teachings, page 216).

Joseph's nephew, President Joseph F. Smith, taught: "Unless we do become like Him we will never be permitted to dwell with Him" (Gospel Doctrine, page 276).

Becoming like God is the whole purpose of the Gospel. It can only be accomplished through righteousness and strict observance of sacred covenants. Then the Holy Ghost can testify and sanctify and purify and justify us before God with a mighty change of our basic nature. Deep repentance, as we can see from Joseph above, is key in this process. The devil teaches that we do not need to repent. He lies.

The Prophet further said that the path to happiness, to being like God our Father, the happiest of men, is "virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God. But we cannot keep all the commandments," continued Joseph . . . now, how would you finish that sentence? Some of us finish it by putting a period, a full stop there! And who do you suppose inspires that? See Joseph's statement above about the enemy of our souls.

Joseph finished that sentence thus: "But we cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them" (see Teachings, pages 255--6). Be honest. That sounds like a daunting task, and we would rather believe that the Lord will accept us as we are. . . . Not so. But there is help in this holy pursuit! Help that makes it a joy and a delight! The scriptures are central to this, but only if we respect them and pay close attention to them. The enemy is pleased if he can keep us separated a good distance from a serious study of the scriptures.

One more thought from Joseph: "I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone [not the world's wisdom; Joseph, an untutored farm boy, was a student of the scriptures; he delighted in them]. I have not the least idea," he continued, "if Christ should come to earth and preach such rough things as He preached to the Jews, but that this generation would reject Him for being so rough" (Teachings, page 307).

"Rough things"! From the Lamb of God! No, it cannot be . . . ! Surely!

We are out of space here, so we'll pursue this next week. Allow me to show you some examples of the "rough things" Jesus taught, in the "Five Gospels", next week. . . . Can you think of any?

God bless us all.

Steve

Sabbathought: "If only you Mormons were Christians"

On his way to a Church assignment by plane, Elder Jack H. Goaslind of the Seventy had the following experience, which he related at a stake conference some years ago.

In conversation with the passenger sat next to him, the businessman soon found out that Elder Goaslind was a Latter-day Saint.

"I have great respect for you Mormons," said the businessman, "I'm really impressed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir; I see your young men in every city where I do business---clean-cut, wholesome young men---your emphasis on family, your welfare program, everything about you is just so very commendable. You know, if only you Mormons were Christians you'd really have something going for you."

How would you respond if you were Elder Goaslind in this situation?

After a few moments, Elder Goaslind said, "I want you to read a book."

"Oh, your Book of --- erm --- Book of Mormons? Thanks, but no thanks, I've already read it. But I am very impressed with you as a people. And, if only you were Christians, well . . . ."

"Well if you won't read the book again, would you mind if I read just one verse to you?" The man glanced around, saw that he was somewhat trapped, and said, "OK, go ahead."

Elder Goaslind read, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

There was no response from the man. After a pause, Elder Goaslind, though he had said " just one verse" thought there was nothing to be lost, skipped a verse, and read: "And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand." (Think how bold this is, to read these words to the man 30,000 feet up and in light of their conversation.) Elder Goaslind continued:

"And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way[bold indeed!]; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law."

The businessman was deep in thought. He said nothing. Elder Goaslind shared one more verse, "And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out."

Elder Goaslind closed the book. The man still said nothing for a while, then spoke: "Where can I get a copy of that book?"

"I just happen to have another one in my briefcase."

Now think about it, you Latter-day Saints. The man had seen and heard much of the Church. He even claimed to have already read the Book of Mormon. But in it all he had missed the point entirely of who we "Mormons" are. This should not surprise us, for Latter-day Saints most often miss the point entirely of who we are! Our testimony meetings affirm the truth of that, for rarely in them do we "talk of Christ, . . . rejoice in Christ, . . . preach of Christ . . ." and so forth.

That businessman ended up joining the Church and, at the time Elder Goaslind relayed the incident, was serving as a high priests group leader in California.

All of which begs the question, If you as a Latter-day Saint Christian were arrested for your public testimony of Jesus Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

God bless. Please leave a comment so I'll know if you catch the point.

Thanks.

Steve

Sabbathought: The Happiest of Men

Rodney Turner, longtime teacher of religion at Brigham Young University, set me thinking with these observations some years ago on the nature of God:

The Father---the happiest of men---endowed His Beloved Son with a "fulness of joy" (3 Nephi 28:10). He is in the business of "happifying" His children by sharing His own nature with them. Heber C. Kimball remarked: "I am perfectly satisfied that my Father and my God is a cheerful, pleasant, lively, and good-natured Being. Why? Because I am cheerful, pleasant, lively and good-natured when I have His Spirit. That is one reason why I know; and another is---the Lord said, through Joseph Smith, 'I delight in a glad heart and a cheerful countenance.' That arises from the perfection of His attributes; He is a jovial, lively person, and a beautiful Man" [JD 4:222].

Brother Turner continues: Our individual capacity for happiness was first developed in the premortal estate. It was there that we learned the rudiments of joy from the Gods set over us. As we partook of their spirit, we experienced a measure of the happiness righteousness produces. In this world of oppositions, joy is veiled; it cannot be experienced in its fullness---a fullness of joy comes only with resurrection. (See D&C 93:33; 101:36.)

But, from time to time we can---like Elder Kimball---partake of the joy of the Spirit. Indeed, we not only have the opportunity, but the obligation, to do so. A perpetually unhappy Saint is an oxymoron, a self-contradiction. President Spencer W. Kimball remarked: "If you are not happy today, you may never be happy" [TSWK, p. 173].

"Happiness," said the Prophet Joseph, "is the object and design of our existence" [TPJS, p. 255]. Righteousness alone can bring it to pass. To the degree that each of us acquires the divine nature, we will enter into "the joy of the Lord." (See D&C 51:19.) Consequently, when all is said and done, each of us will be as happy as we have chosen to be, which is to say, we will be as one with God as we have chosen to be. . . .

Brother Turner concluded: Our gracious Father has revealed Himself through His Son, His Spirit, His prophets, and His scriptures. To that extent, we know Him, and, therefore, to that extent we know ourselves. It only remains for us to magnify that knowledge until we are perfected and glorified in it.

Thank you indeed, Brother Rodney Turner.

This message from Brother Turner reflects the purpose of our weekly sharing in these Sabbathoughts.

May God---the happiest of men, our literal and actual Father in heaven---bless us all to act upon these clear and glorious matters of the soul.

Steve