One unique thing
to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not the belief in the
validity of prophets, but more the knowledge of prophets in our day placed here
for us. Moses was indubitably one of the greatest prophets in history. He split
the Red Sea, brought water from a rock, brought the 10 commandments from Mount
Sinai, wrote the Law of Moses and much of the Old Testament, and brought the
Israelites across the desert for 40 years before his death.
But, there are a
couple things he never did. He never warned the people of a flood, never
addressed the dangers of the Internet, and never even took the sacrament.
There’s a very simple and short explanation for all these. It was the wrong
time. Noah warned the people of the impending flood because it was relevant
then and he was in the position to do so. Christ gave the sacrament for the
first time to His Apostles during the Last Supper because it was the correct
time, shortly before his Crucifixion. Our modern prophets warn us of the danger
of the Internet because it is relevant and important in our day, but wasn’t a
thing at all in the childhoods of anyone born before 1976.
The point is, at
every moment in human history, a Prophet has been needed. That isn’t saying
there always was one, but one was needed. Just like Christ chose Twelve
Apostles in Matthew 10:2-4 during his service before His death, Christ chose
twelve Nephite disciples upon his appearance in the Americas, whose names are
listed in 3 Nephi 19:4. And, just like Christ and then Paul led the Church with
Twelve ordained Apostles anciently, President Thomas S. Monson and Twelve
ordained Apostles who are Prophets, Seers, and Revelators today lead this
Church. These men receive Revelation for the entirety of the World, as did the
ancient Apostles.
A favorite song of
mine can be found on page 110 of the Children’s Songbook. The final (9th)
verse reads:
“Now we have a world where people are confused. If you don’t believe it, go and watch the news. We can get direction all along our way, If we heed the Prophets—follow what they say. Follow the Prophet, follow the prophet, Follow the prophet; don’t go astray. Follow the prophet, follow the prophet, Follow the prophet; he knows the way.”
Disregarding the rarity that we would
actually reach that final verse in whichever activity that hymn was gloriously
sung; it has remained my favorite since I realized its existence.
Despite the
repeated “follow the Prophet” phrase, one must not overlook the instruction to
“heed the Prophets.” ‘Heed’ is a word that isn’t commonly used in today’s
typical tongue, and entails more than listening. It denotates paying careful
and close attention, and connotates obedience.
Never in history
has disobeying the Prophet of the Lord wrought positive long-term consequences.
In the past, not heeding their words has consequencially resulted in denouncing
of kingship, death, contention, shock, plagues, pestilences, famines,
blindness, dumbness, debt, sorrow, guilt, and utter destruction.
In 1 Samuel 13,
King Saul disobeys the Lord’s command, given through His prophet Samuel, to
destroy every living thing in a battle against the Philistines. Saul keeps
animals to be used as burnt offerings to the Lord, and in turn is rejected as
king by the Lord and David replaces him later on.
In 2 Samuel 11,
King David denies the commandments against adultery and against murder and
loses his son born to Beth-sheba, and endures so much spiritual turmoil that
the book of Psalms appears.
In 1 Kings 11,
King Solomon forsakes the Lord for other gods, and is promised by the Lord that
the kingdom will be split through contention and war until Solomon remains with
only one tribe for to rule over, done for King David’s sake.
In the latter half
of the New Testament, city after city disregard the pleadings of the Prophet
Paul to face away from idolatry, adultery, whoredoms, and other abominations
and in turn lose for centuries the guidance of a Prophet, and lose the
Priesthood power and keys that only Paul held on the Earth.
In Mosiah 11, King
Noah and his Priests disregard the prophet Abinadi’s pleadings for repentance
and kill Abinadi, and the King Noah is burned and his Priests excepting Alma
are banished, criminalized, and later extinguished with their posterity. The
people are then taken by the Lamanites and until late in King Limhi’s reign
endure harsh beatings and burdens through their repentance.
In 3 Nephi 1,
those Nephites who denied the prophet Samuel’s messianic prophecy of the 5
year’s distant birth of Christ are overcome and fall to the earth as if dead in
realization of the truth, and in exhaustion after their hearts being warped by
Satan and by alternate desires throughout that lustrum.
In the books of 4
Nephi, Mormon, and Moroni, the Nephites disobey every call of repentance by the
prophets. In 4 Nephi 1:38, it says “they did willfully rebel against the gospel
of Christ; and they did teach their children that they should not believe.”
Through time, the Nephites, who had been promised that as long as they obey
God’s commandments they would prosper in the land, became intensely wicked,
idolatrous, warfaring, and abominable, denying all the commandments of the
Lord. The people was destroyed, with Moroni being the final surviving Nephite,
compiling and abridging the Gold Plates until his death around the year 421
A.D. .
In 1 Kings 17, the
prophet Elijah traveled to Zarephath during a drought, and asked a poor widow
for water and bread. She had not even enough for her and her son, but she
followed the prophet and gave him food and drink. She was promised that her
meal and oil would not run out until rains returned again to the earth. After a
time, her son fell gravely ill. Because of her faith and obedience, Elijah was
able to heal the son.
Around the year
1899, the town of St. George, Utah experienced a serious drought. In May 1899
Prophet Lorenzo Snow, then President of the Church visited the town and
received revelation that the people had been lacking in their tithing. He
instructed them that the word of the Lord was not anything new; quote “THE TIME HAS NOW
COME FOR EVERY LATTER-DAY SAINT, WHO CALCULATES TO BE PREPARED FOR THE FUTURE
AND TO HOLD HIS FEET STRONG UPON A PROPER FOUNDATION, TO DO THE WILL OF THE
LORD AND TO PAY HIS TITHING IN FULL.” The people in St. George and southern
Utah began to pay a full tithing, and in August 1899 they received more rain
than the previous 13 months combined.[1]
In the early 2000s, the prophets gave repeated instruction to
get out of debt, and to not incur new serious debts in the upcoming years.
Those who failed to heed the urgent command were affected much more seriously
in 2008 amidst the housing and stock crash.
During that trying period, my family benefitted greatly from
putting aside food storage, as commanded by the Prophets, useful at a time we
could not afford a meal.
Preceding the societal breakdown in the value of families, the
prophets issued a re-emphatical surge for family home evenings with the purpose
of strengthening families. Since that time, a de-emphasis on marriage, increase
in abortion, calamity of abuse in the home, general integration or acceptance
of homosexuality, and an overall destabilization of family values have been
more successfully withstood by families that persist in family home evening and
other family strengthening activities.
The Family: A Proclamation to the World issued in 1995 says
“Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and
righteousness…Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of
matrimony…Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on
principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love,
compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.”
About a decade
after the stress on the practice of being ‘member missionaries’, the Berlin
Wall was torn down and missionaries streamed behind the Iron Curtain, into an
area where there are now multiple Temples and many stakes. The member
missionaries in those newly available areas aided the work of spreading the
Gospel much easier and much faster, meeting a LDS population 15 times its
previous count in 25 years.
My Grandmother
joined the church when she was 18. Contrary to her parents’ advice, she
attended BYU working two jobs to pay for it, because her poor immigrant
background couldn’t support college. Because the Prophet taught that Tithing is
another way to show our love and devotion to God as well as gratitude, she paid
her tithing unfailingly. She made it through college, being the only person in
her family to graduate.
Next week, we have
a precious opportunity that is much more rare or valuable than a football game,
family activity, or most any event. It is semiannual and is viewed by millions
upon millions of people in more than 200 countries, in nearly 100 different
languages. It’s duration is a mere 10 hours, and gathers all the general
authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints including our Prophet
and President Thomas S. Monson and the ordained 12 Apostles. They will spend
the 10 hours instructing us and uplifting us and chastising us, and it is
imperative that we heed their words. [General Conference]
In August of this year, BYU held
its annual Education Week, at which Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the
12 spoke on “Sweeping the Earth as With a Flood” or what he called “The
Dispensation of the Fullness of Times and Technology.” He addressed BYU
Students, but spoke to the whole of the Church. He urged us to use technology
to spread the Gospel, using mediums like Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Myspace,
Tumblr, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram, Mormon.org, and perhaps even Ello to
spread the Gospel. He mentioned the #ldsconf used during General Conference on
Twitter. He mentioned the Meet the Mormons film being released on October 10th,
just now two weeks away.
Elder Bednar used
a quote from Brigham Young,
“Every discovery in science and art, that is really true and useful to mankind has been given by direct revelation from God, though but few acknowledge it. It has been given with a view to prepare the way for the ultimate triumph of truth, and the redemption of the earth from the power of sin and Satan. We should take advantage of all these great discoveries, the accumulated wisdom of ages, and give to our children the benefit of every branch of useful knowledge, to prepare them to step forward and efficiently do their part in the great work”[2]
Elder Bednar asked us to
edify and uplift others through our use of technology. And, despite any
denials, I know for a fact that many, if not most, of you are in the least
proficient at simple use of any social media platform, enabling you to share a
link or a feeling or an Article of Faith or a simple uplifting thought.
Remember President David O. McKay’s urge that every member be a missionary and
be “not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation”[Romans 1:16]
Share your testimony either directly or discreetly through technology or in
person and you will be impressed at
the effect it has upon you, your relationships with others, and upon other
individuals you associate with or that may see your actions, perhaps
emboldening them do engage in similar acts. Share your testimony through word,
deed, and example at all times.
There is a psychological
effect that is extremely common in the human mind, approaching ever-present. It
is called the End of History effect, and is characterized by the tendency and
tenacity of any human to, at every given moment in their life, to assume that
by that moment, they have become the person they will be for the rest of their
life. This is present in the very old, very young, and very middle. This is
never and has never been the case and will remain so. If you share your faith and
testimony, it will be strengthened
and fortified.
In 1982, President Boyd K.
Packer stated, “a testimony is to be found in the bearing of it.”[3]
May I suggest that this not only applies to new testimonies but encompasses all
developing testimonies, and that there are no fully developed testimonies.
In
the world of business, this process is called synergy. Two or more companies
can work together and create an effect greater than the sum of their two
efforts. Similarly, by sharing your testimony it will grow and build your
faith, and build your confidence emboldening you to share your testimony with
the next luckymortal.
Brothers and Sisters, I urge
you and ask you to follow the prophets’ command to share your testimony through
technology, words, deed, and example that you may be member missionaries,
further enhancing the work of our Lord.
This next weekend, heed the
words of the prophets and follow them. They are led by Jesus Christ, and they
speak His words. They bring clarification and guidance to life’s problems, and
help light the path which sometimes is shrouded in thick fog. Those who did not
follow the prophet Lehi’s voice in 1 Nephi 8 were left wandering through dark
mists and often felt their way to the great and spacious building which
crumbled into nothing. “As many as heeded [those in the building], had fallen
away.”[4]
Nephi says, “I saw and bear record, that the great and spacious building was
the pride of the world; and it fell, and the fall thereof was exceedingly
great.”[5]
I know the prophets are true,
and that the Book of Mormon is true, and that they are interdependent with
their validity. I have faith in Christ, and in the power of His Atonement. I
know that disobeying the prophets cannot bring positive results.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1]
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-lorenzo-snow/chapter-12-tithing-a-law-for-our-protection-and-advancement?lang=eng
[2] https://www.lds.org/prophets-and-apostles/unto-all-the-world/to-sweep-the-earth-as-with-a-flood?lang=eng
[3]
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1983/01/the-candle-of-the-lord?lang=eng
[4] 1 Nephi 8:34
[5] 1 Nephi 11:36
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